Chosen By the Bitbeasts
by starwolf skye
Summary: The Bladebreakers meet Starr, a girl who's been carrying great power with her for years. She temporarily joins the team and together they aim for the hardest tournament in Beyblading history. But soon they'll have more than the tournmant to worry about.
1. The New Girl

A/N: Hi everybody!! Ok, this is my very FIRST fic, so pleez go easy on me. I've had this idea for some time now, and I just saw today's episode "London's Calling", which kinda backed me up in this. Like I said, I'm new to this, so if any of the characters are a bit OOC, then I'm sorry!!! Okay plz read and review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. *starts crying and runs away*

**Chapter 1: The New Girl**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Where did Mr. Dickinson want to meet us, Kenny?" A blonde boy in bright orange and green overalls asked one of his friends as they all hurried through the halls of the resort they were staying at.

"Well, I believe he told me that we should meet him at the conference room by the pool at 1:30, Max." Kenny, another boy, this time with shaggy brown hair, glasses and a tie answered.

"We better hurry then. It's already 1:35." This time, the speaker was a Chinese boy with a red headband in traditional Chinese clothing, named Rei. The group of boys started walking a bit faster.

"Hmph! We could've been there by now if Tyson hadn't had to go up for eighths at the buffet." said another boy with blue hair, and blue markings on his face. This boy's name was Kai. His arms were folded and he was in the back of the group; a bit farther from the other. 

The last boy, also with blue hair, and happened to be named Tyson whined. "But I was still hungry!!"

"Hmph!" Kai said again. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After a bit more bickering and arguing, the boys eventually got to the conference room at exactly 1:48. They opened the door. "Hi Mr. Dickinson!" Kenny called out as they entered in the room. "Sorry we're la-". They all froze suddenly. 

Sitting at the head of a table inside was Mr. Dickinson. And sitting by him, cross legged was another person….a girl who looked no more than 14. She had black hair, slightly that reached a couple of inches below her shoulders. Her eyes were a light copper color, and shone warmly, as she smiled at them. She wore a extremely comfortable looking sweatshirt over sky blue Capri pants. They all stared at her, more at shock of seeing another person with Mr. Dickinson than anything else.

After about 10 seconds of awkward silence, Mr. Dickinson cleared his throat. "Boys," he began. "I'd like all of you to meet Starr. I've known her almost all her life and-"

"What's she doing here?" Kai asked suspiciously, snapping back to being his normal self.

"Well…." Mr. Dickinson started a bit uncomfortably. "She had to come here for some business, and I….invited her to come and visit." He got up and closed the door.

The girl got up from her chair and walked over to them. "Um, hi. I'm Starr." 

"Hi! My name is Tyson. Behind me in order are Max, Rei, and Kenny. And the really grumpy guy standing over there in the corner with his arms crossed is Kai." 

Kai shot Tyson one of his death glares.

Starr smiled. "Yeah, I know who all of you are. I've seen you guys on TV and I heard all about you from Mr. Dickinson." 

Tyson poked Max in the ribs. "Did you hear that??" he whispered excitedly. "She knows who we are!!"

"Duh, Tyson. She knows Mr. Dickinson." Max whispered back. 

"Anyways it's an honor to meet all of you."

"Well," said Rei. "It's nice meeting you too."

Mr. Dickinson stood up and turned to leave. "Wait up, Mr. Dickinson. What did you want to see us for?" Kenny asked, running up to him. (A/N: Such a suck-up!)

"Nothing. I just wanted you to meet Starr. You have the day off and she'll be with you for the rest of the day. I'll be in my room taking a nap if you want me. Enjoy your break!" (A/N: Sometimes I don't get that guy…)

Everyone sweatdropped as Mr. Dickinson left the room. 

"Well then, what do you guys wanna do?" Starr asked her new friends uncertainly after a couple more seconds of silence.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry already!! Let's go check out some of the restaurants!" Tyson said enthusiastically. Everyone except for Starr sweatdropped again. 

"Tyson, we just had lunch at a buffet!" Kenny exclaimed. 

Starr laughed. "It figures. Mr. Dickinson told me about your big appetite."

Rei spoke up. "Hey, you know, we could go do some sight-seeing or something." 

"That's a great idea, Rei! New York has some great places to go visit!" Max said.

"That's fine with me." said Kenny 

"I'm coming too! It'll be fun!" Starr said.

"Tyson?" inquired Rei.

"Well…okay, fine. I'm in, but can I at least get a hotdog or something at a stand?" Everyone sweatdropped once more, and this time Starr did too.

"Well then it's settled. Now, the only question is, are you coming Kai?"

"Yeah, sure whatever. I can't make you practice today anyways, since the hotel's beyblade bowl is closed on weekends. I don't have anything else to do." Kai replied coolly

"Great!" exclaimed Tyson. "Let's go!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ok, that's it for now. Wow, that sure was FUN!! ^___^ 

Waddya think??? I won't update until I get reviews!! I'm open to all suggestions and ideas, though I still have plenty of ideas. Sorry if you thought this chapter was a bit short, I promise it'll be a bit longer next time. PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! Ok, thanks!! 

Cya, 

starwolf


	2. I Don't Beyblade

A/N: Hi again!! I'm back!!

Wow! I got some reviews!!! *eyes full of tears* Thanks to Lady BlackDragonFire and Fire Fox for reviewing!! You guyz are the best! ^_^ I'm glad you like my fic! Both of you write great fics too!! (I read some of them ^.^)

Disclaimer: Oh no!! Not again!!! *sighs heavily * Don't own beyblade; do own Starr (MY character, not yours). Sad, but true. 

**Chapter 2: "I don't Beyblade…."**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Bladebreakers and their new friend Starr walked along the Main Street of New York City. Tyson, Max, and Kenny were near the front of the group. Tyson had already eaten two of the hotdogs he had bought at a concession stand before and was happily finishing off the last one. Rei, Starr and Kai held up the rear; Kai staying slightly behind, as always. (A/N: How typical)

"So, Starr, where do you live?" Rei asked, trying to start a friendly conversation.

"Well, I'm not really even sure how to answer that question, actually."

"WHAT!?!" Tyson, Max and Kenny stopped and spun around suddenly, causing Rei, Starr, and then Kai to bump into them and fall down. Other people walking near them shot them odd looks. Kai glared at them as they quickly walked away. Then he turned all his attention to Tyson and Max. 

"I dunno. It's kinda hard to explain. I travel a lot." Starr explained to Rei and Kenny since Kai giving Tyson and Max a small piece of his mind. (A/N: Hahah poor Tyson and Max) "I don't really live in a certain place, you know what I mean?"

"Um, yeah." Max said a bit uncertainly. (A/N: Kai had stopped before Starr was done talking) He was still kind of confused, and his head hurt where Kai had pounded him….

There was a couple of seconds of silence as they all walked together.

"Oh, yeah! Hey you guys, I'm so psyched for the Chicago Cup Tournament!" Tyson burst out suddenly. "Are you guys ready?"

"Definitely!" Rei said eagerly. "I can't wait!! Hey, do you like to Beyblade, Starr?"

Just then, the warmth in Starr's eyes faded and they became cold. "I don't Beyblade" she said in a rather dismissive tone. Then she looked away.

* * * The Bladebreaker's Thoughts* * * *

Tyson- "Wow, she's touchy all of a sudden!"

Rei-"Oops, guess I shouldn't have said that"

Max- "Whoa, what's up with her??"

Kenny- "Um, okay…."

Kai- "Hmph!"

After that incident, nobody brought else up the subject, and the rest of the little trip went fairly smoothly. Starr came back to being her regular self, and the previous conversation was pretty much forgotten.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

That evening, after dinner, Mr. Dickinson had another announcement. "Boys," he began. "And Starr." He said, acknowledging the black haired girl. "I just wanted to let you boys know that Starr is going with us to Chicago and staying with us. I hope that's okay with you."

"We don't mind at all, Mr. Dickinson." Tyson said eagerly. After all, they did have a really good time sight-seeing after what had happened.

"Yeah!" Rei said.

"Fine with me!" said Kenny.

"We're gonna have a blast!!" said Max. 

"Any objections?" Mr. Dickinson looked at Kai.

"Hmph!" Kai was sitting in his usual position; arms crosses, head bowed, and eyes closed.

"Um….I'll take that as a no, then"

"All right!!" Tyson shouted. He and Max exchanged high-fives.

"Ok then, it's settled. Starr will be coming with us. We'll leave tomorrow morning." Starr smiled to cover up her thoughts. "Just remember…." she told herself silently.  "If no one knows, then no one will be in danger…..I'm sure it'll all work out."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Ok, so I broke my promise. This chapter was shorter than the first one. I mean a LOT shorter. Sorry. ^.^; heheheh. Don't worry though, I already know what I want to happen next, but I just thought that this would be a nice place end the chapter. (see, i've got an explanation!!) Don't worry, you'll find out Starr's secret soon and you should already know part of it….Ok, I did my part, now plz review!!!

Buh-bye!

starwolf 


	3. Midnight Stroll

A/N: I'mmmm baaacckk!!! That's right! I'm ready to start the next chapter! I just had a lot of sugar so I'm in a good mood too! By the way, nobody has suggested a last name for Starr yet. I'm still looking for one so plz if you have an idea submit it. Thanks! Ok, here we go, pleez read and review as always:

Disclaimer: I don't own beyblade, so you better not sue me!! 

**Chapter 3: ****Midnight**** Stroll**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Star sat up in her bed. She turned to look at the clock sitting on the end table next to her bed. It read 1:15 am. She smiled. "Perfect!" she thought. It was time….

She quickly slipped out of bed, put on a pair of black leather pants, and pulled a baggy gray sweatshirt over her white t-shirt. It was cold outside. She started for the door, but stopped, and looked at the light blue backpack lying on the other bed. "Should I bring them?" she wondered to herself. "Naw," she decided. "It'll be too dangerous." She took one last look at the bag, before stepping out of her room cautiously, making sure that the door clicked shut behind her and quietly walked to the elevator and pushed the "down" button. The door opened and she went in. 

* * * * * * * * * * *

Kai tossed in his bed in his room. He couldn't fall asleep. "Why can't I sleep?" he asked himself. In the bed next to him, Rei was lying quietly on his side, sleeping peacefully, as always. "I'm not sharing a room with Tyson, so that can't be it", he thought, recalling back to the last time he couldn't sleep. "What's going on?" Then he remembered Starr. Ever since he saw her, he had a strange feeling that he had seen her somewhere before, a long time ago. But where? And when? He got up. Lying there in bed wasn't going to do him any good. He opened the door and went out.

* * * * * * * * * * *

After a small "ding", the elevator opened and Starr hurried out to the lobby and rushed out the door. New York City was still busy at this hour; lights flashed and people chattered. Starr didn't mind; she had been to New York tons of times and knew the streets there like the back of her hand. This wasn't the first time she'd done this, you know….She pushed past the crowd, turned, and entered the alley. "Where did that guy say all the action was gonna be again?" she asked herself. "Man, you can never trust overheard conversations these days." She grumbled as she came up to another small alleyway. Entering it, she saw exactly what she was looking for. 

There was a small crowd gathered around something- a beyblade dish. Two bladers stood on either side, each holding a beyblade of their own. The one on the left was a boy who had spiky red hair, wore a black leather jacket and looked about 16. The other boy on the right looked like he was around 11. "What's a kid his age doing here at this time?" Starr wondered silently. He had dark green hair and wore a determined look on his face. (A/N: No, this isn't Kevin, in case you were wondering) The boy with the red hair smirked.

"Well then Sammy, are you ready to experience the biggest loss of you life?"

"Never! I'll never let a big bully like you beat me, Rick!!" Sammy said defiantly.

"Whatever you say." Rick replied breezily.

"Well this might be some-what interesting." Starr thought, bored already. She had stayed near the back of the crowd towards the corner so that she hopefully wouldn't be noticed too much. "But I doubt it'll be much of a battle." She eyed each of their beyblades. "That Sammy guy may seem really determined, but his beyblade in already in pretty bad condition. After couple more defeats, it's gonna be completely totaled. I guess he doesn't know too much about real beyblading. But then, Mr. All-That-Rick probably doesn't either." She yawned. "Like I said before, never trust overheard conversations. I'll just stay to watch this one battle. I mean it's gonna be short, anyways. _None of the bladers here look that good." _

Another boy with short black hair was the referee. "Bladers ready?? Three. Two. One. LET IT RIIPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!"

The two boys launched their beyblades at once into the dish. Rick's continually rammed into Sammy's and after about 5 seconds, one of the blades flew out of the dish. Sammy's. He caught the blade in both hands, and then slumped in defeat, tears welling up in his eyes. 

"I-I-I c-can't believe I lost!"

"I warned you, but no, you wanted to waste my time and battle me. Serves you right." Rick said with another grin. "Anyone else?? Who's next?"

Starr turned to leave. What a boring, predictable battle! That was the last time she would come to this alley to watch beybladers battle! After she had only taken a few steps, she heard a voice behind her, loud enough for everyone else to hear.

"Hey you, the girl who's leaving!" She turned around again. "Yeah, you!" She sighed, exasperated. Great. It was Rick.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Kai wandered through the alleyways looking for something interesting to catch his attention. As he passed one of the alleys for the tenth time, he looked to his left and noticed another small alley he hadn't noticed before. Slightly curious, (A/N: for Kai, that is), he quietly entered it, careful not to be seen. Inside were about 30 people and they seemed to be looking at one person, a girl. Looking at her, Kai finally realized who she was. Starr!! "What's she doing here!?" he asked himself in disbelief.

A boy with red hair was standing by a beyblade dish. "What do you say about a battle, girl?" he was asking Starr.

Starr turned around again and continued walking out, pretending she hadn't heard.

"C'mon! Are you scared or something?" the boy teased her.

She whirled around furiously. NOBODY called her coward and got away with it. "I don't beyblade." She said firmly as she glared at the older red-haired boy. 

"What!? You don't know how to beyblade?? What are you doing living in this century?" Rick laughed.

Starr narrowed her eyes with anger. "I didn't say that I didn't know how to beyblade." she said as calmly as she could. "I said that I DON'T beyblade. But now that you've brought that up, let me answer a few questions for you. Do I know how to beyblade? That'd be a yes. Can I beyblade? Another yes. Do I like to beyblade? Yes, once again. Am I good at beyblading? Well, I guess I'll give you the privilege of letting you figure that out by yourself!!" She took a couple of steps forward.

Kai wasn't very surprised. He had expected something like this. "So she does beyblade. Question now is, is she good? Well, I guess I'll find out." he thought, standing there with arms crossed. "This should be rather interesting!"

Interesting enough, the black haired girl didn't pull out a beyblade. Instead, to everyone including Kai's surprise, she walked over to the now crying and slumped over figure other wise known as Sammy and asked him, "Hey kid, mind if I use your blade?" Even though Starr was asking him gently, Sammy looked horrified as though she was holding a gun to his head. He quickly handed his beyblade and launcher over. "Thanks, kid." She said as she took the blade and examined it. "I guess this will have to do." She thought grimly to herself. 

"You don't even have a beyblade with you? What a riot! This should be easy!" he snorted with laughter.

Starr smirked. "Hey, don't get too cocky here. I'm gonna prove to you that even this battered blade can kick your butt. That crooked smile on your ugly demented face is gonna be gone for good after this!" She walked up to the dish.

Rick roared, doubled over with laughter. "Oh, that's a good one!"

"Hey, can we start this battle sometime this millennium? I don't have all day!"

The red-haired boy, who had finally gotten hold of himself stood up. "Suit yourself." He answered confidently. "But when you loose, don't blame me for your stupidity!" 

"Whatever. Listen, we'll do things this way. If I win," Starr said, "You'll never show your face in this alley again. And if you win-"

"I don't care what'll happen if I win." Rick interrupted her. "All I know is that I'm bored and I'm gonna win this anyways."

Starr shrugged. "Your choice."

The black haired referee-boy stepped up again. The two opponents took their positions at the dish. "You two ready? LETT ITT RIIPPPPP!" The two blades launched into the air and started for the dish. Suddenly, the two blades crashed into each other with a loud crash and clouds of dust pillared over the area. Rick coughed and cursed, while Starr stood firmly, face grim and determined. 

"What the hell just happened" Rick asked still coughing as the dust cleared, revealing no sign of either of the blades. Just then two beyblades came down from the sky, Sammy's first and then Rick's. Sammy's landed softly in the dead center of the dish, still spinning. The sides of Starr's mouth slowly rose into a knowing smile as Rick's beyblade fell; missing the dish by an inch and in worse condition than Sammy's. His jaw dropped in disbelief. 

So did Kai's. What did he just see? 

Starr smirked as she caught the blade she had just used. "Well, what are you waiting for? Pick up your pathetic, totaled blade and get the hell outta here so I can leave too!"

Rick cursed again. "I'll get you back for this!" he vowed as he stalked off.

"Yeah, right!" thought Starr smugly. Then, after returning the beyblade to its rightful owner, she too walked out. 

* * * * * * * * * * *

When Starr returned to the hotel, she was confronted by a tall, familiar figure with blue hair….

"Kai!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing up at this time?"

Kai's face was serious, yet his eyes glinted knowingly. "Why were you at that alley just now?" he asked her.

"H-how did you know about that?" she asked, surprised. Regaining her composure, she defended herself. "It's none of your business!" 

"I'm making it my business! I mean, you don't want everyone to find out, do you?" He smiled slightly, a sly, knowing look on his face.

Starr grimaced, and then sighed. She had NOT expected this to happen. "Fine, I'll tell you." she said exasperatedly. "But I can't tell you here, and you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"I don't make promises."

She glared angrily at him. This was complete blackmail….

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ok, I'm done for today….Wow! That was a pretty long chapter, for me at least. That was to make up for last chapter. This is hard work!! But fun ^_^! Well, then, please review and tell me what you think! Ok, and while you do that, I'll start up on Chapter 4!! 

Later!

Starwolf ^-^ 


	4. Chicago, Here We Come!

A/N: Hi it's me again!  Um, let's see….I think I've got some mail to answer…  OK, first to Dark_Moon: Believe me; I'm not trying to make Starr a Mary-Sue or anything.  I never wanted to either.   Thanks for telling me.  I assure you though that she's not perfect or anything.  I'm still gonna finish this fic, but I'll try not to make a Mary-Sue outta of her anymore.  Jade-55: Thanks a lot!!! ^_^   And by the way, I love your fic; it's sooo good!  Lady BlackDragon: Thanks once again!!  Those last names sound pretty good, though I haven't chosen which one to use yet.  I'll tell you when I do!  And also, more suggestions are also appreciated from all.  MysticDragon01: Thanks a lot!  Last but definitely not least, Wild Azn-Cat: Ok, I get your point!!  I'll start continuing it now, though I probably won't be able to finish it, since I've got a lot of ideas.  I'm glad you enjoyed it so far, though.  

I'll really start, now:

Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own beyblade.  I'm working on it, though! ^.^ (j/k)

Chapter 4: Chicago, Here We Come!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Starr and Kai entered her room.  Starr turned on the light, and then closed the door firmly behind her.  She sighed heavily.  This was not going to be easy.  

"Well, are you gonna tell me?" Kai asked, arms crossed and an expectant look on his face.

"I-I" she started weakly.  Then she paused, in deep thought.  "I don't care!" she finally declared boldly.  "Tell Mr. Dickinson and the rest of the team if you want.  Mr. Dickinson already knows!"  

Kai looked surprised for a split-second.  Quickly regaining his composure, he said, "Ok, if that's what you want, I'll do that.  Right now though, I'm going to go get some sleep."  With that, he strode out of the room.    

"I can't believe I told him that!" Starr mused.  Mr. Dickinson's gonna kill me after he has to explain everything.  But what choice did I have?  I'd rather Mr. Dickson tell the story than me….ugh!" She didn't want anybody to treat her specially or differently.  "Kai, you better not really tell!" she said aloud, and then sighed again.  She was exhausted, but didn't want to sleep.  "I've got to stop worrying about this!" she thought as she checked the clock.  3:08, it said.  She got up and left the room too.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At 7:30 in the morning,, everyone was up, packed and ready to head for the airport.  Everyone, except for Tyson, that is.  Rei carried him on his back (A/N: poor Rei, he's the one who always has to do these things….) while, the others took care of the luggage, etc.  As soon as everything was packed in the van, and all the work was complete, Tyson woke up.  

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked yawning.  Everyone sweat-dropped as Rei set him down.      

"Hey, thanks for letting us do all the work." Max said sarcastically.  

"What?" Tyson was still tired and a bit confused.

"We're leaving, stupid!  We're going to Chicago for the tournament!" 

"What!? ….Oh, yeah.  YAAAAAYY!!" Tyson was fully awake now and was jumping up and down.  

Kai stood there, arms crossed disapprovingly.  "If you want us to get to the airport on time, you'd better get in the van," he said.  

"Ok, ok, I'm going in." Tyson said as he got in the van.  "Geez," he thought.  "He's even grouchier than usual today!  Wonder what's up with him today.  Must have not slept very well last night…"  

* * * * * * * * *

The group managed to get to their flight just in time.  Unfortunately, Mr. Dickinson didn't manage to get seats that were close together.  Kai had a seat in the very back next to Mr. Dickinson.  Tyson and Max were seated together and had already started annoying their neighbors.  Rei, Kenny and Starr had scattered seats far away form the others.  Kenny was sitting towards the back, Rei sat closer to the middle, and Starr up near the front.

Nobody in the Bladebreakers seemed to notice, probably because of the excitement that was traveling around, but Starr was in a horrible state.  Her dark hair was tangled and matted and there were dark purple circles under her eyes.  She was exhausted from not getting any sleep and from worrying all last night.  She had tried to avoid Kai and Mr. Dickinson as much as she could this morning, and it had worked pretty well.  But she knew that sooner or later, it was all gonna come out.  Not that she personally really cared, but everyone else who knew would be worried.  She sighed.  She might as well forget it now.  Man, was she tired.  She rested her head on the pillow and almost instantly fell asleep.  It wasn't until the place landed that she woke up.     

* * * * * * * * * * 

"Well we're here!" Rei said cheerfully, as they set down their bags in front of the hotel-their new temporary home until the tournament ended.

"Great!" Tyson said, checking his watch.  "Man, it's already 1:15 and we haven't had lunch yet.  I can't believe I'm still alive!  When are we gonna go eat??"

"Tyson", Kenny said, you had all that food that you brought with you on the plane!!"

"I know, but that was 2 hours ago.  Now I'm starved!!"    

 Mr. Dickinson chuckled.  "Ok, but first we've got to check in at the front desk Afterwards, we can go eat at a restaurant." 

"Fine with us!" Max replied cheerfully.  

Starr yawned, sleepily.  Even though she slept through the whole flight, it still wasn't enough.  "I don't know about you guys, but I'm still tired.  I, um, could hardly sleep at all last night." She tried to avoid Kai's gaze as she said this.  "I think I'll skip out on lunch today and take a nap."  

"Ok!"  Mr. Dickinson said.  They entered the building.  After checking in, Mr. Dickinson handed Starr the key to her room and left with the others.  Tyson was chatting happily about something that had to do with Chicago restaurants and pizza, as they left the door. 

"So, boys, what do you want?" Mr. Dickinson asked them.  

"PIZZA!"  Tyson and Max yelled!  The others held no objection, though Kai gave the two an annoyed glance.  

"Ok, then pizza it is!" Mr. Dickinson laughed.  

* * * * *

The Bladebreakers and Mr. Dickinson were seated at a table in a cozy Italian Restaurant.  After ordering 2 pizzas (one for Tyson, another for the rest of the group), Mr. Dickinson brought up a subject.

"Boys," he said seriously.  "There're a few things that I think you need to know about Starr."

"What?" asked Tyson, who was impatiently waiting for the food to arrive.

"Well...." (voice drowns out)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ok, I know, this chapter was really lame.  I don't care if you say that it was crappy in your reviews this time, cause it's pretty much true.  No action, no info, no nothing.  Sorry everybody, but I'm really tired ad bitchy right now (think PMS) and can't think straight, so it took me 3 whole days to finish this tiny chapter, since I was really busy and all of the above.  Next chapter will be much more interesting, that's 100% guaranteed.  Mr. D will tell the guys Starr's story.  Sorry once again.  Pleez keep reviewing anyways, though (just to make me feel better?).  Ok, bye.

Starwolf         


	5. Truth Revealed

A/N: YEAA!!!! It's SATURDAY!!! The ONLY day where I've got time to actually write this!!!! This chapter is called Truth Revealed. Ok, since I'm in such a good mood right now, I'll start.

Disclaimer: If I owned Beyblade, this wouldn't be a disclaimer, now would it?

**Chapter 5: Truth Revealed **

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

"Well….the first thing I guess you should know is that Starr was adopted."

"Really? By who?" asked Rei, interested.

"You?" Tyson guessed.

"Heavens, no! Let me start from the beginning: Starr was brought into an orphanage by a mysterious woman, who claimed that she found her somewhere. I don't know all the details. She was about 9 months old, and curiously enough, the people who worked there said she always had with her a small toy that was kind of like her comfort item. If she didn't have it with her, she'd start crying. Bawling real loud." 

"Well, what was it and what was so weird about it?" asked Max curiously. 

"It was….a beyblade."

"WHAT!?!" Everyone said.

"That's right. I still remember that blade too. I believe she still has it, just for memories. It was light blue and there was a yellow star on top on it. The star was how she got her name, you know."

"Cool."

"Do you boys know who owns the BBA Company?" Mr. Dickinson asked, changing the subject.

"I do." Kai spoke up for the first time in a while. "The Harrisons do. They live somewhere in California, don't they?"

"That's right, Kai." Mr. Dickinson said fondly.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with Starr? Did they adopt her?" Tyson's impatience was rubbing off on Max.

"Not exactly"

"What does that mea-"

They were interrupted by the waiter. The pizzas have arrived. One supreme and one pepperoni (A/N: guess which one Tyson gets?). 

"YEAH! ALRIGHT!!" said Tyson, reaching for a slice and wolfing it down, almost knocking over his glass. The waiter glanced nervously at him before he left. 

"Oh boy, here we go again." Kenny said, face-faulting. The others sighed as well. 

"Anyways," Mr. Dickinson continued, "The secretary at the BBA office in Los Angeles spends part of her free time volunteering at the local orphanage. When she saw Starr with her beyblade, she thought it was pretty cute and decided to ask the Harrisons to come and see her. When the Harrisons arrived, they felt attached to her and wanted to adopt her, but they didn't have enough time to take care a baby. The BBA superiors actually held a meeting about this and they decided to adopt her under the BBA."

"But that wouldn't work out very would it?" Kenny asked.

"That's what everyone thought. But it turned out pretty well. Starr lived in the Harrisons mansion until she was eight. She was mostly taken care of by maids and nurses until about the age of four. She's a very independent girl, you know. She called Harrisons "Uncle" and "Aunt" and they were very fond of her, though they didn't see her very often. Too much business and work in running a big company, you know. In fact, they were so fond of her that they secretly declared her heir of the BBA Company to the most superiors of the company."

"WHAT!?!" they said again. 

"That makes sense that they'd do it secretly." said Rei thoughtfully. "People who wanted to make fast money could just kidnap her and hold her for ransom. They must have done a really good job of not letting the world find out. But if she grew up around Beyblade, how come she doesn't beyblade?"

Kai spoke up once again. "She does."

"WHAT?" Rei, Kenny, Tyson and Max exclaimed. (A/N: In case you haven't noticed, "what" is gonna be the word of the day ^.^)

"How did you already know?" Mr. Dickinson asked, surprised.

Kai uncrossed his arms and recrossed them the other way. "I saw her last night. She was at an alley battling another guy. She used someone else's almost totaled beyblade and completely beat the other guy."

"Wow! She must be pretty good if even you say so, Kai,"

Mr. Dickinson sighed. "I guess this means I have to tell you the rest of the story."

"What? The story's not even finished yet?" Tyson asked.

"Nope." He said wearily.

"And you weren't gonna tell us?" Tyson demanded.

"No."

"Then tell us!" 

Mr. Dickinson sighed again. "Someone thought Starr and her blue beyblade were really cute. She even gave her a small launcher for fun. When she was one and a half, she launched her first successful blade."

"Wow!"

"The Harrisons appointed Starr a private beyblading teacher when she was 2. He only lasted for 1 and a half years."

"Why?"

"She wanted to learn by herself afterwards. As I said, she's really independent and she's also really mature. Anyways, she practiced at least 4 hours a day. She didn't let people watch her or record her stats. She always got her way."

"She doesn't seem spoiled, though." Rei said.

"I know. But, she never wanted dolls or toys or candy or anything, she just wanted to practice. The Harrisons had a special dish and room built for her to practice in. Sometimes she practiced there, and sometimes she practiced outside; usually at night." 

"She seems really dedicated." Max said. "But I still don't get why she doesn't want people to know she doesn't beyblade if they don't even know who she is."

"Just in case, and also.…"

"Yes?"

"When she was five, she got her first big thrill as a beyblader."

"What was that?"

"She got a bitbeast."

"STARR HAS A BITBEAST?" everyone, including Kai exclamed loudly, shocked. 

Mr. Dickinson looked around quickly. No one had paid attention or heard them. "Shhhh!" he said a little more quietly. "Yes, the bitbeast that came to her was a wolf, known as Drayla."

"I've heard about Drayla," Kai said thoughtfully. "Isn't she also known as the Silver Wolf?' 

"That's right. But that's not all."

"What do you mean?"

"That's not the only bitbeast she has."

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?" 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

To be continued….. I'm sooo evil! Ending the chapter here!! MWAHAHAHA!!! So, what do you think?? Can you kinda relate to title of my fic to this, now??? Pleez review and tell me what you think!!!! Thanks! 

Ok, bye!!

Starwolf ^.^


	6. Chosen by the Bitbeasts

A/N:  I'm back again!!  YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!  By the way, I'm gonna start making my chapters longer now, coz at this rate I'm not really going anywhere.  That also means that I'm gonna update less often, though.  Just thought you'd like to know; ^_^    Ok then, let's get this chappie started!!!

Disclaimer: I only own Starr, my fic, and the bitbeasts that you don't recognize from the show.

**Chapter 6: ****Chosen**** by the BitBeasts**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

"That's right.  About a year later, Starr got another bitbeast.  I believe it's some type of bird.  If want to know more about them, you better ask her.  Remember, she doesn't let people watch her blade often or even record her stats.  Also, it's rumored that she has other bitbeasts as well, now.  The only person who knows for sure how many she has is her and she doesn't talk much about these things, as you may have noticed."

"But how is it possible to have more than one bitbeast?" Tyson wondered aloud.

Mr. Dickinson answered, "There have been records of people who have had more than one bitbeast, but it's very rare.  I don't know very much about it, but they were known as those who were "chosen by the bitbeasts.  Starr is the only known person who is "chosen by the bitbeasts" right now, and of course, no one really knows about it.  Again, if you wanna know more about that, ask Starr.  She used to spend a lot of time learning about these things."

"I wanted to know that too.  But that's not what I meant. What I mean is how can more than one bitbeast be in one blade?"    

"They aren't.  She uses multiple blades.  She can just pick any blade and bitbeast that she wants to use."

"Isn't that against the rules?" Kenny asked.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?  Actually, it's alright to use multiple beyblades, since once you become accustomed to a certain blade; it becomes harder to work other blades that become unfamiliar.  It takes a lot of talent to be able to work other blades as successfully and as well as the one you're familiar with."

"That probably explains why she did so well with the other guy's blade, Kai." Rei said.

Kenny frowned.  "Yeah….but didn't Kai say that the other guy's beyblade was practically totaled?  That still doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know." Mr. Dickinson said.  "You'll have to ask her yet again."  He got up.  "Come on boys; let's go back to the hotel."  As they were about to leave, he added. "Do you boys promise not to tell anybody?  This is for Starr's safety.  I felt that I could trust you and I hope that I'm right."

"We promise." Max, Tyson said together.

"You can trust us, Mr. Dickinson!" chimed Kenny.

"Of course!" said Rei.

Everyone looked at Kai.  "Yeah, sure.  Whatever." He said in a bored voice, though really he was not.

"Good."  With that, they headed back.

* * * * * * * * *  *

Meanwhile, Starr had just woken up, feeling much more refreshed than before.  She got up and stretched, yawning.  "Where were the guys?" she wondered.  "Are they back from lunch yet?"  She checked the clock- 3:48.  They should be back by now, though knowing Tyson, they might still be there, talking to the manager of the restaurant or something.  She smiled, playing the scene in her head as she changed into a light blue sleeveless shirt and tan pants and then headed towards the elevator.

* * * * * * * * * * 

While, that was going on, Mr. Dickinson and the Bladebreakers had just walked into the hotel.  They sat down in the lobby in front of the fireplace and continued their chat.

"So, why is Starr really here?" Kenny asked Mr. Dickinson.

"I think I'd rather have her here when I answer that question."

"Have her here?  You mean, she's gonna know that we know?"

"That's right, though I'm not too sure what her reaction is gonna be." Mr. Dickinson said rather nervously.

"That is definitely not good." Max said.

* * * * * * * * *

"Ding!"  The elevator door opened and the copper-eyed girl walked out and started for the lobby.  When she got near it, she paused.  Wasn't that the Bladebreakers sitting over there with Mr. Dickinson?  Yes, it was.  She started to walk up to greet them then stopped, catching part of their conversation.

"Uh-oh, I wonder what's gonna happen when Starr finds out we know." Tyson was saying, a bit scared. 

Starr's heart sank slightly.  They knew.  She processed the thought over in her head and realized that if Mr. Dickinson was the one who told the story, it wouldn't have been so bad.  Still, she walked up behind them. "I don't know.  What's gonna happen when I find out what?" she said making everyone flinch with surprise 

"I guess your gonna find out your question." Max whispered to Tyson, who looked liked he just saw a ghost.

"Um, no-nothing.  We were jus-." Mr. Dickinson was cut off by Starr

"It's ok, I know." She said, sighing.

"Wow, that went fairly well." Mr. Dickinson thought with relief.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT YOU WERE GONNA TELL THEM?????"

"Oops.  I thought too soon."

"WHY???"

"I'm sorry Starr, calm down.  I forgot to tell you.  Um, why don't you guys go and talk or something.  I, um, have this meeting I have to attend.  Ok, bye!"  He ran out of the door.  

"….Okay." said Rei sweatdropping as Mr. Dickinson left.  

"Come on, let's go to my room." Starr suggested after an awkward moment of silence. 

"Ok." Tyson said, and they followed her to her room.

* * * * * * * *

"Sorry, it's kinda messy right now.  I kinda unpacked everything.  But make yourselves at home." she said as she turned on the light.  

"Um, sure, thanks." Max said as he sat down.

"So," Starr said.  "How much do you guys know?"

"Uh….a lot?" Tyson said.

"Which means?"

"We know about your bitbeasts." Kenny added.

"Oh," Starr sighed.  "Then I guess you probably know everything."

Rei spoke up.  "Hey, Starr?"

"Yes?"

"Mr. Dickinson wouldn't tell us this; why are you here?"

"I don't know how you're gonna react to this, but…."

"Yeah?" Tyson was curious now.

"….I'm here to help the team."

"What?  What do you mean?" Kenny asked.

"Training.  He wants me to help you guys with your training.  I've got a lot of techniques that I've come up with over the years, and Mr. Dickinson wanted you to be the first ones to learn them."

"Wow!!  That's cool!" Tyson said.  "It'll be like we have another team member!"

"I don't know about that, Tyson.  I won't exactly be blading or anything."

"Why not?  We heard that you're good.  Plus, Kenny doesn't blade and he's part of the team."

"Well….I guess so, if you guys don't mind."

"We don't mind." Tyson replied enthusiastically.  "Do we?"

"Not at all!" Rei said.

Kai shrugged. "Fine with me."

Tyson's jaw dropped.  "What did you say, Kai?"

"I said, that's fine with me.  We need some decent bladers in the team anyways."

Tyson growled, "Why you…."

While Tyson was trying (A/N: emphasize on "trying") to hurt Kai, Starr leaned over to Rei and whispered "Am I supposed to be surprised, or happy, or something?

"I guess so." Rei answered back.

"Uh, ok"

Kenny squirmed on his seat uneasily.  "Uh, Starr."

"Yeah?"

"Can we see your blades?"

"I'll show you two of 'em." she answered, walking towards a familiar light blue backpack and taking out two blades.  One was light blue and the other was midnight blue.

"Wow!  Dizzi's got to see this!!"  Kenny opened up his laptop.

"Um….Dizzi?  Who's Dizzi?" Starr asked, confused

"Oh yeah, sorry.  Dizzara is my bitbeast.  I call her Dizzi for short.  She got trapped in my laptop.  Long story."

"Uh, sure…ok." Starr said, not sure what to think.

"Hey Kenny," a female voice from the laptop said. "I thought that you had forgotten me.  Hey, don't you have someone you've got to introduce me to?"

Starr jumped.  "Whoa!  That laptop just talked!"

"Yeah." Tyson said, as if all laptops talked on a daily basis.  "That's the bitbeast."

"Dizzi, this is Starr.  Starr, Dizzi."

"Pleased to meet you." the voice coming out of the laptop said.

"Um….hi." 

"Well, what do we have to do today, Chief?"

"Starr is gonna show us a few bitbeasts."

"A few???"

"I'll explain later." Kenny replied.

Starr spoke up.  "Actually, I'm only gonna show you one, at least for now." She held up the light blue blade.  "I think Mr. Dickinson might have told you about this one."  

Everyone moved in for a closer look.  On top of the beyblade, there was a light yellow star, barely visible with age.

"Oh!" Max exclaimed.  "This is the blade you had when you were a baby.  Why doesn't it have a bitbeast?"

"Because I stopped using it after I was four." Starr exclaimed.  "I realized that it could get damaged and I knew I wanted to keep it forever."

"Hey, can anyone fill a confused bitbeast in on the details here?" 

"I said, I'll tell you later, Dizzi.  Come on Starr, let's see the other blade."

Starr held it tightly.  "Sure, but you have to promise me not to run any tests on it, ok?"

"I promise."

She held the dark blue beyblade out to them.  Its edges were rimmed silver. And in the middle was….

"Is that the Silver Wolf that Kai was talking about?" Tyson blurted out.

Starr looked at Kai oddly.  How did he know about her bit?  "Yeah, this is Drayla, the Silver Wolf.  She was my first bitbeast.  We're pretty good buds, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, we know what you mean." Rei said, thinking about Drigger.

"Well, Dizzi," Kenny asked, "do you know anything about Drayla?"

"Uh….let's see….here we go!  Drayla's the female leader of the bitbeast wolf pack."  

"Bitbeast wolf pack?"

"That's right.  There are a couple of wolf bitbeasts.  The male leader is Anemus, also known as the Thunder Wolf."

"That's so cool!"

Starr added.  "Also, Drayla uses the power of the moon, nighttime, and also ice and snow."

"Sounds pretty powerful to me!" Tyson commented.  

"So, Starr."  Kai spoke up for the first time.  "When are we gonna see your other bitbeasts?"  

Starr smiled mischievously.  "When I want to."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.  "I'll get it!" Tyson offered, running for the door.  "Uh, Hi Mr. Dickinson,"

"Hello Tyson.  I just wanted to let you know that we're going to dinner in 30 minutes, so get ready."

"ALRIGHT!!!  I was getting hungry, there!"  

"Okay then, I guess we should be getting ready." Starr said, putting her blades away.  The others nodded, getting to leave.  "I'll see you guys later!"

"Bye!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** 

Ok, I'm done for now.  I'd say that chapter was pretty long, wouldn't you?  Well then, same as always.  Pleez review, no flames pleez.  Thankies!  ^.^

Buh-bye!

starwolf


	7. Practice Makes Perfect

A/N: Ok, I'm gonna start on the next Chapter now, though I don't have much time. Oh well, I can always finish it up later. Thankies to all those people who review so much! You guys are the best!! So let's get started…

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. Get over it.

**Chapter 7: Practice Makes Perfect **

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

"Ok, team, you better all hurry up and go to bed." Mr. Dickinson told Starr and the Bladebreakers after they came back from dinner. (A/N: I guess now I can just say the Bladebreakers) "The first day of the tournament is tomorrow and we'll need to be at the stadium at 9 am sharp to register. Then we're going to practice hard!"

"Great!" groaned Tyson. "Just what I needed to look forward to. More bossing around from Kai and the Chief."

"And don't forget me!" A voice said brightly. Everyone looked at Starr. "Remember, I'll be helping too!"

"Right!" Mr. Dickinson said. "Now, move along, will ya?'

Everyone headed for their rooms.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kai couldn't sleep once again. His mind was busy, going over all the information that he had learned earlier that day. Still, the feeling that he had seen Starr before….He sighed, closing his eyes. Instantly he fell asleep

* * * * * Kai's Dream * * * * * 

A young boy about nine sat in the waiting room of some kind of building. His hair was mostly light blue, but there was some dark blue in the back. His arms were crossed and the look on his face was mature, business-like and expectant mature. A door opened.

"Ah there you are, Kai!" A slightly younger-looking Mr. Dickinson poked his head in. "Sorry, I couldn't get to you sooner….We had some important visitors here today." He smiled. "Come on in." he said, opening the door wider for Kai to come in. 

Kai silently stepped into the office. "What did you want to see me for?"

"Ah, yes. Of course! Well Kai, it just so happens that-"

Mr. Dickinson was interrupted by a knock on the door. A woman poked her head in. "Excuse me Mr. Dickinson sir, I'm sorry to bother you but we need you right away!"

"Ok, I'm coming" Mr. Dickinson looked surprised, but rose out of his seat and told Kai. "I'm sorry about this. We've been awfully busy these days. Why don't you look for a bit around the facility? I trust that you won't get into any trouble or get lost and you know where your boundaries are." With that, he left, following the woman.

* * * * *

Kai got up and wandered around the area, bored. There were rooms everywhere. He reached the end of the hallway. And pushed the door open, He didn't notice a sign on the door…"Employees allowed only". Someone had accidentally left it unlocked…. 

He walked around a bit more. Surprisingly, nobody seemed to be around at all. He stopped when a small glass window caught his eye. Peering into it he saw a girl with black hair- so black, it was almost silver- who was his age, or maybe even younger. Her back was turned from him and in front of her was a beyblade dish. Spinning in the beyblade dish was….a midnight blue beyblade.

* * * * * *End of Kai's Dream* * * * *

Starr sat on her bed staring at her backpack. She had not slept yet, or even tried to sleep. Slowly, she took out 6 of the beyblades, one by one. One had a star engraved on top; others had animals of different types. As she fingered each, she thought "I hope I did the right thing."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At nine-fifteen the next day, there were hundreds of bladers lined up in the Chicago Dome, including the Bladebreakers, to register for the upcoming tournament. Tyson, who was actually excited enough to wake up early today, exclaimed loudly, "Wow! Look at all these people! So, how do you think the competition is gonna be, Chief?"

"Actually, it's not gonna be all that tough. I've looked over some stats and all these bladers are pretty much amateurs." 

"I thought this was the Chicago Cup Tournament. Shouldn't all the bladers be pretty world-class?" Tyson said, confusion written all over his face.

"Well, you thought wrong." Starr said, explaining. "This is a Chicago pre-Cup Tournament. The real thing is in 3 months. Pre-cups are special tournament is for bladers who want to warm up for bigger tournaments. They have these every month at almost every major stadium, and it seems that there are no teams here that are any real threat to us this time."

"Then why are we doing this, we don't have any other major tournaments coming up soon and it should be easy for us to beat them?" 

Kai spoke up. "Isn't it pretty obvious? Mr. Dickinson arranged this so that Starr could see all of us in action."

"That's right, Kai." Mr. Dickinson said, smiling. They stepped up to the table, where a girl in her late teens was registering everyone. 

"Name of team?" she asked in a business-like manner, not looking up."

"We're the Bladebreakers!" Max answered proudly.

The girl finally looked up. "The team that won Asian and American tournament this year!" she gasped looking at each of the boys, gaping at Kai and Rei longer then the rest. She gave Starr an odd, confused look, which quickly turned into a look of pure hate and jealousy. Starr hid a giggle and smiled innocently at her. Then she quietly nudged Kai and Rei, who were on either side of them. The girl looked furious for a second, then regaining her business-like composure, she said "Ok, I have your team registered. Thank-you." They left, with the woman gazing longingly at both Kai and Rei. 

When they were out of the building, Starr burst out laughing. "Did you see her face when Max said the team name??" she said. "She took one look at Kai and Rei and practically passed out!"

Rei turned slightly red, while Kai's reaction stayed cool as always, though if you looked at it long enough, you could maybe see a hint of amusement.

Tyson looked annoyed. "Hey, I'm sure she was looking at me, too." he protested. 

"And did you see her expression when she looked at me?" she continued, ignoring Tyson's comments. "I think she thought that I was somebody's girlfriend or something! She looked practically ready to kill me for one of you!! What a riot!" She doubled over with laughter, grabbing the nearest person for balance, which happened to be Kai. Kai looked a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything. 

"It is kind of weird, though." Rei thought. "Starr treats us like regular guys you'd meet on the street while other girls now, well…." He turned a bit red again.

"What's wrong, Rei?" Starr stopped laughing long enough to notice the shade of red on his face. "You didn't actually like her back, did ya?" she teased, straightening up.

"Of course not!" Rei said, regaining composure.

Kenny spoke up, changing the subject. "Hey, shouldn't we be heading back to the hotel so that we can practice?"

"Oh, that's right!" Max remembered.

"Wait, but if there's no competition, why do we need to practice?" Tyson asked, groaning.

Kenny sighed. "Didn't you learn anything? I never said that there was no competition, I said that we probably wouldn't have as much as during the Asian and American tournaments. That's not the same thing! Also, you must remember that there will still be some talented bladers somewhere! If you always…."

"Oh no!" Tyson said to Max, rolling his eyes. "Not another one of his 'practice makes perfect' lectures."

"Does he always talk this much, when he lectures?" Starr asked the rest of the team in a low voice.

"Sorry, but unfortunately, the answer is yes." Tyson answered.

"….therefore, we still need to practice. Plus, Starr probably wants to see us practice, isn't that right?" Kenny finished.

"Sure!" Starr agreed, glad that he was finally done talking. "I'm dying to see what you guys have!"

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Rei asked. "Let's go!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"So, is this the private training room that you reserved for us, Mr. Dickinson?" Max asked, as he, Mr. Dickinson, Max, and Rei reached a door.

Mr. Dickinson fumbled around in his pockets for the key. "That's right, but actually Starr was the one who reserved it for us. This is her special room that she uses whenever she comes to Chicago." He finally found the key and opened the door.

"WOW!!!" Tyson, Max, and Rei stopped suddenly, their jaws dropping.

For on the other side of the door, was not your ordinary beyblade training room. Four gleaming stadium-sized beyblade dishes stood right in front of them. To their right, an exercise center, to their left, couches and armchairs. Not only that, there was also a door that lead to some other room. 

Mr. Dickinson chuckled. "I thought you might have liked it!"

"You've been here before?" Rei asked.

"No, but I've seen other training facilities even more sophisticated than this one."

"Wow! I wonder what those look like!" Max said, dreamily.

"Well, maybe Starr can show you sometime later-"

"Speaking of Starr," Tyson interrupted him. "Where is she? And Kai and the Chief?"

Just then, the other door opened and Starr, Kai and Kenny walked in. 

"Where were you them?" Rei asked them.

"Oh, I sent those three here earlier so they could discuss training issues. They'll be in charge from now on. I'll be on my room. Bye!" Mr. Dickinson left. 

Tyson looked at Starr, who was wearing a light blue sweatband and sweatpants and a gray tank top, then looked at the exercise equipment and groaned. "Oh no, don't tell me we have to lift weights and run and stuff!"

"Actually, we were planning on having you run 10 miles nonstop." Kai said. 

Tyson missed the sarcasm. "Aww man!" he moaned.

"He was being sarcastic, Tyson." Kenny said, rolling his eyes.

"Um, oh yeah. I knew that."

"Sure." Max replied dully.

"Well then let's get to work!" Kenny instructed. "We've agreed that Starr will just sit out today and watch us practice. That'll give her some ideas on how we can work things out!"

"Lucky duck." Tyson mumbled. 

"What are we waiting for? Let's start!"

Starr settled in a leather armchair as she watched Kai, Rei, Max, and a slightly angry Tyson launch their blades. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Another lame-o chapter. Sorry, but it was getting kinda long, and I needed to post soon. Today at school we had gender-switch day. It was kinda weird; some guys wore dresses, skirts, makeup, and stuffed their shirts you-know-where. A couple even wore coconut bras! O.O I think I'm gonna be disturbed for the rest of my life!!!

Ok, Bye!!! 

STARWOLF ^-^


	8. Tournament of the Bitbeasts

A/N: Sorry, I've haven't updated this in a while (for me, anyways). I went to Canada for the weekend, and I had a lot of fun! ^__^ Also, I've been pretty busy with school and stuff lately, but now I've got time, so I'm gonna start on the next chapter! Um, for this chapter, I'm gonna fast-forward the time a bit later on, you'll see. Lady BDF: Thanks a lot again! I'm glad you liked that scene, and yeah, I don't think I've fully recovered from that day yet! ^_^ autumn's stargazer: Thanks, I'll be sure to read your fic too! Silver Wild-Cat: Yeah, I know. People think up of the most bizarre spirit days. (those special days that we have at my school) I think that the all the staff in our school are pretty messed-up, no offence. I mean, one of my teachers let us watch the Sixth Sense in school for Halloween. Pretty cool, but I think they've kinda lost it now. Come to think of it, I've pretty much lost it too. Anyways, let's get started on this:

Disclaimer: Must I go over this again????

**Chapter 8: Tournament of the Bitbeasts**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Ok you guys, good practice." Kenny dismissingly said a couple of hours later. "It's now 5:20. We'll stop for right now and we can all take a break. You guys deserved it!"

"Except for Starr, that is." Tyson said a bit sorely. Starr smiled sweetly at him and held up the small notebook and the pencil that was sitting on her lap.

"Hey, I've been working too here!" she protested jokingly. 

"Yeah, but you don't have Kai breathing up your neck, do you?" Tyson grumbled.

"No, but Kenny doesn't either. Plus, soon I'll be the one nagging you instead of Kai. Won't that be fun?" Starr teased.

"Just great." muttered Tyson sarcastically, then brightened slightly. "Well, at least it's not Kai."

"Sorry Tyson." Max joined in. "You'll have three people: Starr, Kenny, _and_ Kai to worry about now."

"ARRGGGHHHH! Tyson yelled, running around in circles and pulling his hair out . "I can't stand it anymore!!!"

"Hey, relax Tyson." Rei said, though also deeply amused. "They're just joking."

Tyson gradually calmed down. "Ok, fine. Then can we go eat or something? Man, that training really takes it outta you."

Kenny answered, "Mr. Dickinson ordered some pizza. It's on the table over there." He pointed. "You can get some if you want-"

"But leave some for us!" Max piped up.

"Aw, you guys, do you really think I'd forget you? Of course I'll leave some for you." Tyson said gallantly.

"That's rather hard to believe. Wait, forget rather. That's REALLY hard to believe." Starr teased again. Tyson glared at her and ran for the pizza.

"Have fun." Kenny called out as the group scattered off in different directions. "Just remember, tomorrow's the first day!" 

"Like we could forget, with you nagging us so much." Tyson said loudly in a muffled voice, while stuffing pizza in his mouth at a rate of approximately 80 miles an hour.

* * * * * 

Starr leaned against the fence, arms crossed, looking off at the sunset. "Mind if I join you?" a familiar voice asked behind her. She turned around, startled.

"Oh. Rei, it's you." She acknowledged with a slight nod.

"Yeah." He said. "So, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Just thinking."

"Oh yeah? About what?" He joined her at the fence.

"Everything." Starr said bluntly.

"Everything?"

"Everything that's been going on ever since I met you guys."

"I know what you mean." Rei smiled understandingly. "Life's been pretty complicated lately, huh?"

"Yeah. And also…."

"What?'

"Now that you guys know, people may be after you too. I'm not sure letting you guys know was the best idea in the world. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to any of you just because you guys knew me." 

"Hey, it's ok." Rei said soothingly. "We'll be ok, and so will you."

"I-I hope so." Starr's voice shook slightly. Then she smiled. "Thanks Rei. You're such a good friend. I mean, look. I've only known you guys for a couple of days and it feels like I've known you forever."

"No problem." Rei replied. The conversation stopped as the twosome gazed quietly at the setting sun. 

* * * *

Starr was heading for the hotel door. It was getting dark now and Rei had gone back to his room hours ago. 

"You still haven't told me yet." A voice said from the side.

She froze and turned her head cautiously towards the area where the voice came from. It was Kai, head slightly bowed and arms crossed in the shadows. 

"What the heck are you talking about?" she asked him. 'Why do I always meet him at night?" she wondered to herself.

"You still haven't told me why you were at the alley picking fights with people the other night. You know how dangerous that is, especially for you."

Starr looked half-surprised and half-angry, "What do you mean, picking fights with people?" she protested. "You saw; the guy challenged me when I was about to leave. He saw my face, and I wasn't exactly in the best mood, then, so I accepted."

"So why were you there?"

"Why do you want to know? How come you're so nosy all of a sudden? Geez, I know I made a mistake that night, but you don't have to know why. I wasn't there to fight people, ok?" Starr sounded irritated.

"You know you still owe me an explanation." Kai wasn't gonna let her get away with it.

Starr sighed. "Why do you always do this to me?" she wailed, looking up at him, and their eyes met. The look Kai had on his face was too much. "Fine. I was there to watch the battles and see the bladers' techniques and stuff. I do this a lot, nothing new. Not against the law or anything is it?" Kai didn't say anything. "Usually I'm more careful. I usually stay farther in the corner and stuff. I guess I was just too caught up on other things. Anything else you need to know?" she asked sarcastically.

"No." Kai answered coolly.

"Well then, good night!" Starr strode into the hotel.

Kai watched her as she left. 'Just be careful, kid" he thought, standing there in the darkness.

* * * * * * 

"Ok guys, today's the day!" Kenny said, preparing for a lecture. "You know-"

"Hey, relax Chief!" Tyson said. "We know what we're doing."

Kenny smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I was getting a bit nervous.

"No kidding." Starr mumbled to the rest of the guys. She wasn't a big fan of lectures either.

"ALL RIGHT!!!" Tyson said suddenly. "Let's go out there and kick some others bladers' butts!!!"

* * * * * *(A/N: ok, here's the part where you fast-forward ahead a couple of days like I said before)* * * * * *

A red beyblade whizzed out of the dish and landed on the floor with a thud.

"And the winner of round three isssssss, Rei of the Bladebreakers!!!" Jazzman's voice rang loudly throughout the stadium.

Rei smiled proudly as the crowds roared and fan girls screamed loudly. It was definetely a noise to be proud of.   
"YEAH!!!!" Max jumped on top of Rei, knocking him down as Tyson, Kenny and Starr ran up to them. Kai, however, remained seated where he was. 

"Hey congratulations guys!" Starr said happily. "We won! It's over!"

"YEAH!! Tyson and Max cheered loudly. "We're the best!" They started dancing around in circles. 

"Congratulations, boys!" Mr. Dickinson's voice said behind them. They turned around. "You guys all did a really good job!"

"Well, it _was_ pretty easy, just like Chief said." Rei replied. "The only team that was even worthy to be called competition was that Shadow-spinners team we met in the quarter-finals. Thanks anyway though." he added.

"Well then Mr. Dickinson, where are we headed to next?" Kenny asked curiously. By now, Kai had joined the group to hear what Mr. Dickinson was going to say.

"I think that Starr might like to answer that question for me, but not right now. We'll head back to the training center for a group meeting, and then, we'll have question and answer time."

"Sounds good to me!" Max replied.

* * * * * * * 

"Ok" Tyson complained. "We're finally here. The suspense is killing me. Where are we headed for?"

"How does Canada sound to you?" Starr asked with a smile.

"Is that where we're going?" 

"Yep!" Starr said happily.

"Then it sounds great!!!" Tyson cheered alongside with Max. 

"Wait," Rei joined the conversation. "What kind of competition is this gonna be?"

"What do you mean?" Tyson looked confused. So did the others. 

"What I mean is, are we gonna be in a real tournament, or just some other pre-cup thingie? Coz this tournament wasn't exactly what I'd call a challenge. I mean, we didn't even use our bitbeasts at all!"

'That's right!' Starr thought to herself. 'I still don't know what their bitbeasts are yet.' She made a quick mental note to find out as soon as possible. Right now, there were more important issues.

"Oh, I get it." Tyson said, then looked back at Starr. "So what kind of tournament is it gonna be, then?"

"It's not a pre-cup, if that helps any."

"That's good, but then what is it?" Tyson asked.

"Have any of you heard of the Tournament of the Bitbeasts?" Starr asked casually.

"I have." Kai said. The others turned to him. 

"Really, Kai?" Kenny asked, interested.

Kai nodded slightly. "It's one of the oldest beyblade tournaments around. Only bladers with bitbeasts are allowed to enter, and they need an invitation too."

"So, does this mean we've been invited, Starr?" Rei asked her.

"That's right, Rei." Mr. Dickinson answered for her, holding out a piece of paper, a flyer. Everyone scrambled for it, but Tyson was the one who managed to grab it. "The Tournament of the Bitbeasts is only done once every eight years. I don't know why it's eight, so don't ask."

"THIS IS SOOO AWESOME!!!!" Tyson said, jumping up and down happily waving the flyer wildly in the air. Not long after, he was joined by Max, and even Kenny. 

"Yeah! This will probably be the most challenging tournament we've ever been in." he said. "Imagine all the information I can get on bitbeasts and the other bladers!!"

"Ditto!" said Starr, also laughing excitedly. The others looked at her, surprised. 

Mr. Dickinson laughed when he saw the expressions on their faces. "Well, I guess I have to tell you the other reason why she's here now."

"Oh my God," Tyson said, face-faulting. "First you explain to us all this stuff and then there's always more. It figures. What else don't we already know?"

"Lots, actually." Mr. Dickinson replied with a smile. Tyson groaned and Starr laughed.

"Actually, there isn't much now that you don't already know." She answered. "It's all based on the same stuff. Since I've got multiple bitbeasts, I decided to dedicate my life to learning all about them."

"Starr is what you might call a bitbeast expert!" Mr. Dickinson added proudly. "She probably knows more about separate bitbeasts than even Dizzi."

"Hey, I'm right here listening you know." replied 

I have do a lot of research and stuff, and by coming to the tournament, I can learn a lot more!" Starr continued, ignoring both the old man and the bitbeast's remarks.

"That sounds pretty cool!" Max said.

"Yeah!" Tyson agreed.

"Finally!" Kenny said happily. "Someone who's actually on my level!!"

"Newsflash, Kenny." Tyson said. "She actually has a good reason to be doing a lot research."

Kenny looked slightly hurt. "Isn't the fact that you're having fun a good reason?" he asked.

"Anyways, this will be a great experience for all of us." Starr said, tactfully changing the subject. "I'm pretty excited."

"Who wouldn't be?" Rei asked. 

"Ok, you guys, meeting adjourned." Mr. Dickinson said finally after a whole lot more chatter and conversation. "Oh, and one other thing…"

"Yeah?" 

"Starr you need to know this too. Ok…I got a letter from the committee. They've changed the rules."

"What?" even Starr looked surprised

"Now we need to have two substitutes instead of one. Don't ask why, but anyways, I put you down, since you were are only other team member that beyblades. Is that okay?" he asked nervously.

Starr sighed. "Fine." she said. The others looked surprised. "I've got no choice. Besides, I'm only the second sub. I mean, what are the chances of two of our bladers not blading? If one doesn't, Kai will sub. Simple enough."

Mr. Dickinson smiled and clapped his hands once. "Ok then, it's decided. We're going to Toronto!!"

This was followed by a loud chorus of "YAAYYY!"s courtesy of Tyson and Max. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There! I finally finished this. I think this was the longest chapter I've written so far. Go me!! ^-^ I'll try to update this ASAP; right now I'm alternating chapters w/ my other fic. One for this fic, one for my other one, get the picture? 

Ok then, until next time!!!!

Starwolf ^.^


	9. Sky Eagle

A/N: Hey, I'm not in the mood for much chat at the moment, so I'll say what I hafta say and then just start on this right away. Umm, Doped out Bunny, I'll try my best. And skysong, um, I just thought up of a Canadian city off the top of my head and Toronto popped out first. Thanks to everybody!

Disclaimer: I'm not gonna do this again. See other chapters if you really wanna read it. I doubt it though…..

**Chapter 9: Sky Eagle**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When the cheering finally died down, Kenny spoke up. "This is pretty cool, but we can't lose our minds. We've gotta start focusing more on practicing. These teams will all be tough to beat, even in the first round. I'm sure Kai and Starr will agree with me." The two said teens nodded their heads slightly. Kenny looked at Mr. Dickinson. "So then, when are we going to leave for Toronto??" 

"Not until about a month. We'll be staying here to practice and stuff."

"Good. Then we'll be away from fans and anyone who will be a distraction to our practice. I propose that we start right away." Kenny stood up.

"I agree with Kenny." Kai spoke up. "And Starr, you're gonna have to practice with us if you're gonna be a substitute. You never know what might happen at the tournament."

"Yeah." Rei added. "The last time that you've beybladed must have been when Kai saw you. That was ages ago." 

'That wasn't the last time." Starr thought to herself. Every night, she had crept into the room to practice. Instead she replied, shrugging, "You're the team leader, Kai." 

"Ok, then." Mr. Dickinson said, rising to leave. "Have fun! And also, I suggest that Starr show you the special media part of the room. You may find it handy." He winked at Starr, then left. The others looked at her, confused.

"What's he talking about?" Max asked.

Starr grinned mischievously. "You'll see." She walked to the observation area, while the others followed her curiously. They reached a panel with a blue cover on it.

"What is it?" Tyson asked

Starr took off the cover, and underneath were tons of multicolored buttons of different shapes, and a remote control. She took out the controller and placed the cover back on. Then, she got up. "Watch." She said, pointing it at the nearest blading dish and pressing a button. Everyone watched in surprise as the golden surface of the dish split open and something rocky rose up in its place.

"Woooow!!!" everyone (except Kai) exclaimed. The dish now looked like a mini replica of a cliff. 

"Cool!" Max said, running up to inspect it closer with everyone else close behind. "What else can it do?"

"Well…." Starr counted off. "There's a mountain, an ocean, a jungle, and….there's a lot, anyways. I guess Mr. Dickinson thought that having these themed dishes would help sometime later." She looked at Kai while she said this. She then pressed another button on the remote and the dish changed back to its original state. Smiling, she took out a sky blue beyblade and asked, "So….what are we gonna do next?"

"Whoa!" Tyson said, taking a closer look at her blade. "This isn't the one that you showed us."

"He's right!" Kenny said. "This one isn't Drayla, and it doesn't have a star on it!"

"What is it, then?" Max asked.

Starr looked at her blade, confused. 'What is he talking about?' she wondered. 'Oops. Starr, you baka! You took out the wrong blade!' she scolded herself. 'Oh crap!' Covering up quickly, she replied. "Um, oh yeah, this is Allegra, an eagle. She's my second bitbeast."

'Could it be…?' Kai asked himself in wonderment.

"Cool!" said Max and Tyson again excitedly. Kenny was now typing rapidly on his laptop, looking for info on this new bitbeast. Starr sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. Attempting to get everyone off the subject of her bitbeast, she said. "So, are gonna start now or at least anytime in this millennium?"

"Oh, right." Kenny started, stopping his typing. 'The research can wait', he thought to himself. "Well then, Kai, what should we do?" he asked, looking at the moody blue-haired teen.

"Everybody get to one of the dishes." Kai ordered. "We've talked way too much. Now's we're gonna work hard." Rei, Tyson and Max all went to separate dishes, and Starr and Kai went to the one left over. Starr looked at Kenny, who still had his laptop opened and ready with a warning glance on her face. He got the message.

"3…2…1…LET IT RIIPPP!" Max cried out, and all five of the bladers launched their blades.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Two hours later. The Bladebreakers were now taking a break, relaxing on the sofas and couches. 

"I'm hungry!!!" Tyson complained.

"What else could we expect?" Starr replied, shaking her head. Everyone else ignored him. Then a brief moment of silence….

"Hey Starr!" Max brought up. "We were wondering…."

"Yeah?" she replied. 'This better not be about the bitbeasts.' she thought.

"You know, your battle with that guy that Kai saw a couple of weeks ago?"

"Mmm-hmm? What about it?" she asked, relieved. 

"Well, according to Kai, you used another guy's blade-".

'Which was totally trashed.' finished Starr in her head.

"-Which was totally trashed, and still beat that guy. I don't think that that blade had a bitbeast, so how did you do it?'

Starr now had a glint of pride in her eye. She had a reason, too. "I used my special power launch technique!" she replied, beaming.

"You're what??" Tyson, Kenny, Rei and Max all asked at the same time."

"My power launch technique. Here let me show you…" She fumbled for her launcher, then held it at launching position. "You have to grip your launcher this way…." She did so. "….and then you've got to put your launcher at this angle….then….." She launched her blade, which flew out in such a blur, that you could hardly see it. Miraculously, the blade ended up on the dish, circling it at incredible speeds. Then it flew back out towards Starr's hand, which caught it and stuffed it back in her pocket. "I usually only use those on other beyblades when I need it, to give them an advantage. I mean, when I use my own blades, they've already got an advantage."

"Your bitbeasts" Rei nodded understandingly.

"That's right. I don't really need another edge unless it's an emergency or something," 

"Hey, can I try that too?" Tyson asked excitedly.

"Sure." Starr shrugged. "There isn't a rule that says you can't. Plus, it's actually pretty easy if you practice it a lot." 

"Cool!" Max replied. "I'm gonna try too!" 

Everyone eagerly walked up the dish to try, trying mimicking the movements they had just seen, except for Kai, who stood by the corner, watching. 

"Let it riiip!" Tyson cried, doing so and causing his blade to spin onto the dish.

"Hey, not bad!" Starr said, fairly impressed.

Rei tried too. "You know," he said. "This is actually pretty easy. I can't believe no one else thought of it before!"

"I know!" Max agreed. "That's pretty weird!"

Kenny typed rapidly on his laptop. "That's the most powerful launch I've ever seen you do yet, Tyson!" he announced.

"Whoa!" Dizzi added.

"Just practice it and use it only when you need it." Starr told all of them.

"Geez, Starr." Tyson said. "You're starting to sound like a doctor!"

Starr laughed a little. "Oops, sorry. I didn't know you didn't like doctors." she said teasingly. 

Tyson pouted slightly. "Well, I don't like doctors." Then he brightened. "But I DO like food! I'm practically about to die of starvation here!! When do we eat?"

"Soon, Tyson. Soon." Max said. Everyone laughed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Starwolf: Sorry that chapter kinda sucked, and I haven't posted lately, but I've been going through some difficulties….

Professor Random: *appears from thin air* It's called writer's block!

Starwolf: Shut-up!! 

Professor Random: Eeep! o.O *disappears* 

Starwolf: Yeah, anyways sorry again. I needed something to fill in the time spaces! Promise that next chapter will be much much better. And MUCH longer.

Bye everybody!

StArWoLf ^__________________________________^ 


	10. The Missing Starr

A/N: I've got plenty of time to start on this chapter since I've finished all my homework! ^-^   Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get into ff.net recently, so I'll have to wait to post this.  About the new characters in the tournament: I'm still organizing them and deciding how and where to put them etc.  That's still taking a while, when I've got that done, I'll get into the tournament.  Right now, I guess you could say that I'm just stalling for time….well, kinda.  Ok, let's get going, then:

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

**Chapter 10: The Missing Starr**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Later that night, as everyone started to go to their rooms, Mr. Dickinson approached Kai and Rei.  "Ah, Kai.  Rei." He said to them.  "Do you mind if I have a chat with the two of you?"

"No, that's fine with us, Mr. Dickinson." Rei said, a bit uncertainly, and the two of them followed him to another room. 'What in the world is going on?' he thought, obviously confused.

"What do you want?" Kai asked, as the door closed behind them.

Mr. Dickinson took a deep breath.  "Boys, I need to talk to you two about something important."

"What?" Rei asked curiously.

"As you know, Starr is going to be our second substitute for the Tournament.  I've arranged that.  You know, the teams don't really need a fifth blader."

"They don't?" Rei asked. "Then why'd you sign her up anyways?"

 "By hanging out with the Bladebreakers, she may still attract attention.  She needs to have an excuse for being with you guys.  Like she said, the chances of her actually having to blade are very little.  Now, you two are the oldest of the team.  I'll be off on an important meeting tomorrow morning.  I won't be back until much later and I'm just asking that you just help keep an eye on her.  Don't make it too obvious, though.  She won't like it if she finds out." He paused for a moment, catching his breath.  "Well, then what you do think?"

"Sure Mr. Dickinson." Rei replied.

"Kai?"

Kai grunted, his own way of saying yes.  After all, he was pretty much doing this already anyways….

Mr. Dickinson clapped his hands once and smiled.  "Ok then!  You boys don't know how much I appreciate this.  Thank you very much!  You two are dismissed."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

"Hey everyone!  How's it going?" Tyson asked brightly as he walked up to the breakfast table the next morning.

"Finally decided to wake up, Sleeping Beauty?" Rei, who was closest to him asked.

"I guess so." Tyson replied, yawning and stretching his arms.  He took a seat next to Max and Kenny then looked around.  "Hey, where is Mr. Dickinson?  And Starr?"

"Mr. Dickinson had to leave early this morning for some kind of meeting.  He told us to keep training on our own." Kenny answered.  "As for Starr, I don't think she's awake yet.  We haven't seen her at all this morning."

"That's odd." Tyson said.  "She's never been one to wake up late."

"I know." Max added.  "She's usually the first one up.  I mean, she even gets up earlier than Rei!"

"Maybe we should go and see if she's alright.…" Rei said thoughtfully.

Tyson broke the solemn, thoughtful mood.  "Hey, I'm sure she's fine!"  He said reassuringly.  "Remember, I haven't eaten yet, and I'm dying of starvation here!  After breakfast, if she doesn't up, we'll go up to her room.  It's no big deal!"  

Rei sighed.  "Yeah.  I guess you're right." he replied, sighing again.  

Kenny shook his head.  "Always thinking about his stomach." he said sweatdropping.

"Alright!  Are you ready breakfast??  Here I come!!" Tyson said happily, scrambling out of his chair and heading for the breakfast table.

"Don't worry." Max said.  "This will be fast.  I bet you Tyson will probably finish all of that food at that table in about fifteen minutes.

About ten minutes later, Tyson returned to the rest of the group w/ a full stomach and angry hotel employees yelling at him from a distance.  "Mmm…that was good!" he exclaimed, patting his stomach.

Everyone sweatdropped.  "And he didn't even bother to bring any food back to the table to eat." Kenny said in exhaustion.

"So, um….have you guys seen Starr yet?"  Tyson glanced across table.  No said a word, but the looks on their faces were enough to tell the answer.  "I guess not."  Everyone, even Kai, for some reason, seemed at least a bit worried.  "Well, then I guess we better go up to her room and check."

Everyone rose from they're seats to leave.  "What's her room number again?" Max asked as they headed for the elevator.

"527." Kenny replied, after checking the sheet of paper that Mr. Dickinson had given him.  He pressed the up button.

"What do you think happened?" Tyson asked, a bit concerned.

"I dunno." Rei replied.  "But I hope nothing's wrong."  The elevator door opened and they went in.  Kai pressed the "five" button, and then there was silence as the elevator started moving.  

_Ding!  The door opened.  "Come on!" Tyson said, as they rushed towards room 527._

"Ok, here's the plan." Kenny said, panting slightly as they reached the door.  "Mr. Dickinson gave me all the spare keys to our rooms, just in case.  If Starr doesn't answer the door, we'll have to open it ourselves.  We have no other choice."  

Rei knocked politely.  No answer.  He tried again.  No luck.  Now it was Tyson's turn.  

"Come on, Starr!"  He yelled pounding on the door.  "Let us in!!"  A maid that was passing by glared at him.  Tyson didn't notice and didn't stop.  "We know you're in there!" he continued loudly as Kenny opened the door with the key.  No one was in the room.  Everyone stared for a long time.

"….or not." Tyson finished weakly.  Everyone facefaulted. 

"Wow!" Rei said.  "This place is a lot neater than it was before.

"Yeah!" Tyson answered.  "It seems like she packed up last night or something."

"Her backpack is gone!"  Max noticed.  "Where do you think she could be?" He asked, turning to the rest of the team.

"I don't know." Kai replied.  "But we've got to go find her!"  He turned to leave. 

"Wait!" Kenny called out.  He had wandered into Starr's room. 

"What is it, Chief?" Tyson asked.

"She left us a note!" he said, waving the sheet of paper that he had found on the desk nearby.  

Everyone but Kai, who stayed where his was by the doorway, gathered around him.  "What does it say?" Max asked curiously, coming closer.

"Hey, you guys!" Kenny read aloud.  "I knew that you would probably come looking for me, so I left you this note."

"Geez." Tyson said dully, facefaulting.

Kenny continued.  "Anyways, I just want you guys to know that I'm fine.  Don't worry about me.  I'll be back at around 11:30.  I won't bother you details until I'm back, but I'll give one clue for now: pack your bags!!  Okay, see ya soon!"  Kenny paused for a moment.  "It's signed by Starr."

"What does that mean?" Rei asked.

"I don't know, Tyson." Kenny replied.  "But I guess it's something about leaving, or she wouldn't have told us to pack up."

"Well….then should be?" Max asked.

"I guess so…..I hope Mr. Dickinson knows about this!" Kenny answered uncertainly.  

"Ok, then." Rei said, checking the clock on the desk.  "It's 11:06 right now.  We've got about 30 minutes to pack up, and then Starr should turn up by then."

"Hey, sounds pretty good to me!" Max replied.  They split up to go to their rooms.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

At around 11:40, the Bladebreakers (minus Starr) were packed and waiting in the training room.  Well, at least Kenny was waiting.   Kai was making Tyson, Rei, and Max train.  They were "wasting time", as Kai put said.  

Tyson moaned.  "How long do we have to keep doing this?" he complained.      

"How about now?" asked a rather familiar female voice coming from the doorway.  

Everyone whipped around.  "Starr!" everyone exclaimed.  

"Hey guys.  Sorry I'm late." She replied coolly, coming in.

"Where were you?" Tyson asked. 

Starr seemed to be in a pretty good mood.  "Whoa!" she exclaimed.  "You're turning into Kai now!"  Nobody except for Kai, who smiled, kind of-in a way, had any idea what she was talking about.  They looked at her blankly.  "Never mind." she said quickly.  "I was just at the office talking to Mr. Dickinson on the phone."

"For a couple of hours?" asked Kenny disbelievingly. 

Starr laughed.  "No, just for about five minutes.  Before that, I was at the downtown Chicago BBA office."

"What were you doing there?" Rei asked.  

"All of you ask too many questions.  Patience, I'll get to it." Starr took a deep breath.  "We're leaving today." She announced happily.

"Man!" Tyson groaned.  "She's really getting to me.  We're leaving for WHERE?"

"Hey what did I say before?  Just give me time!"  Starr tried again.  "Mr. Dickinson once told me about that one time when you guys were heading for the American Tournament, and he took you guys to some remote place to train."

"Yeah!" Tyson interrupted.  "I remember, isn't when we met that guy Antonio or something?"

Starr shrugged.  "Yeah!" Max answered.  "That's the guy who wanted to teach kids how to blade.  But he wasn't too good at blading himself." he recalled.

"And yet he managed to beat you, didn't he Tyson???" Kai smirked.  

"Well, so?" Tyson said defensively.  "At least I learned a lesson."

Starr raised an eyebrow.  "Anyways, that's what we're gonna do.  There's a new training facility that's just opened off in the woods somewhere near here.  I've asked permission for us to use it.  We're gonna be the first ones to use it, but it's not quite finished yet, so we may have to rough it a bit…."

"That's okay." Rei replied.  "Sounds like fun!"

"COOL!" Tyson cheered.  "We'll be famous!"

"Um….not quite, Tyson." Max said, sweatdropping.  

"Anyways," Starr continued.  "We'll be leaving at about 1:15.  I got a BBA van to get us there.  It'll take abut 6 hours to get there."  

"WHAT?!?" Tyson exclaimed.  "I thought you said that it was near here!" 

"Hey, when you're talking about the woods, a 6 hour drive is definitely still 'near'." Starr replied, not batting an eye.  "Are you guys packed up?" she asked.

"Yeah." Tyson said dully.  "Kenny made us."

"Good for him!" Starr said brightly.  "Let's hurry up and go eat lunch.  Then, we can go!"

"Sounds good to me!" Rei replied. 

"Sounds REALLY good to me!" said Tyson happily.  "I'm gonna make today a world-wide holiday!  The one day Starr suggests we go and eat lunch!" 

Everyone looked at him oddly.  "What's so special about that?" Max asked.

"Well, sometimes you kinda feel left out, being the only person who's smart enough to worry about the welfare of our poor stomachs." Tyson said in a fake sad voice.

Starr snorted and smacked Tyson lightly on the back.  "Don't celebrate just yet.  I'm just saying we've gotta go eat now, or either we'd miss our ride, or we'll have to spend the whole ride there listening to you complaining about how hungry you were."

Tyson shrugged.  "Close enough.  Let's go eat!!!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *       

Well then. I guess we're done for now.  I think these chapters are slowly starting to become shorter.  Sorry.  Anyways, I promise that after going to this training center place I'll get to the tournament.  Hey, how come no one's reviewing for this anymore???  I got a lot less reviews last chapter than in the one before.  WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MY READERS???  Also, still need voters on the Starr pairing-issue.  Thanks, and please read + review!

Ok, bye!

Starwolf ^.^  


	11. Out in the Wilderness

A/N: WOOHOO!!! Hey, I'm back!! YAY!!!! Ok, I'm starting to scare myself…. 

Anyways, let's get down to business!! Just to let you guys know, I've really gotta s+tart making these chapters way longer, if I want to have less than 40 chapters for this fic!! SO that's what I'm gonna do, ok?? ^_^ Ahhhhh! Okay, I've talked too much. (Not really, but….) Let's start! 

Disclaimer: I do NOT (I repeat, do NOT) own beyblade

**Chapter 11: Out in the Wilderness**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Hey, when's the van gonna come?" Tyson complained. The Bladebreakers were standing by the curb of the hotel. "We've been waiting for ages!!"

"Um, sure Tyson." Kenny replied in an exasperated voice. "I guess 'ages' is close enough to five minutes."

"Hey! Patience, Tyson!" Max replied cheerfully. "I'm sure it'll come any minute!" 

Tyson continued stomping around impatiently. "Forget it, Max." Kai told the blonde-haired boy in a bored tone. "It's not like he's gonna listen to you." 

Starr gazed down the street. "I think our ride is almost here." she said at last, smiling. 

"Finally!" Tyson said, stopping.

"Yeah!" Rei agreed. "I don't think I could have put up with Tyson's complaining for much longer." 

Starr looked at them and grinned. "Yeah, I'm pretty impressed. You guys have had put up with him for this long and you're still on the team!" she joked. 

"Actually, the rest of us were planning on leaving together some time soon! You're welcome to join us." Max replied, with a grin.

"Hey!" Tyson protested loudly. 

"Ok, ok, cut it out guys!" Kenny said, though he seemed fairly amused himself.

"Fine." Starr replied, shrugging. "The van's here, anyways." she said, pointing down the street at the approaching vehicle. She started dragging some of the luggage towards the van. The others followed her. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

It was about five and a half hours into the ride to the training center and the Bladebreakers was beginning to become restless. 

"Are we there yet?" Tyson asked the famous line once again. "I'm starved!"

Kenny shook his head. "You should have brought some food with you on the van. Everything we brought is in the trunk."

"Well, I forgot! And now I'm hungry! I'm hungry! I'm hungry!" Tyson chanted the words over and over.

Rei covered his ears. "Ok, ok! Stop with your belly-aching already!" he said in an irritated voice.

"No kidding!" Max replied. His ears were also covered. 

"I can't!' Tyson replied. "Not when my belly's EMPTY!" He then continued his chant for food.

"Oh, come on!" Starr rolled her eyes and unzipped her backpack. Digging through it, she took out a bag of chips and threw it at Tyson, which hit the back of his head. "Here. Take it before everyone dies of annoyance."

"YES! I'm saved!" Tyson cried dramatically as he tore the bag open and stuffed his face. The others facefaulted and then ignored him.

"Wow!" Rei turned to Starr. "You've got everything in that backpack!"

"Yeah!" she replied, grinning.

"What else is in there?" Kenny asked curiously. 

"That's for me to know and me to know." she answered coolly. The subject was dropped.

Max looked out the window of the moving van. "Hey, is that the place?" he asked, pointing at a wooden sign that was slowly coming closer. It read "BBA Wildness Training Camp". 

"Yup, I think so." Starr answered. "This should be it!"

"Yay!" Tyson cheered. "Now I can go get some REAL food!"

"Oh, thanks for your undying gratitude." Starr replied sarcastically.

"No problem!" Tyson was apparently too excited to understand what she meant.

"Ok!" Max said. "Here we come!" 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

"Need a hand?" Starr asked Rei and Max, who were unloading the luggage from the van. 

"Hey, thanks!" Max said gratefully, handing her a couple of bags.

"No prob. It's nice to see that at least_ some people appreciate me." Starr rolled her eyes in Tyson's direction good-naturedly, who was running off somewhere in excitement, then grinned. "Ok, I'll go put these off somewhere. See ya!" she turned to leave_

"Wait!" Rei called. Starr turned around and looked at him, puzzled. "We're gonna come with you. This is the last of the luggage." he said, dragging a large suitcase behind him. 

"Oh, ok!" she replied, shrugging. The van started to pull off.

"I'll be back in three days!" The driver yelled out the window.

"Sure, thanks!" Starr yelled back, as she and the others waved. The van left, leaving clouds of dust behind, and the three of them set off towards the camp. 

"So, where are the others?" Max asked, after a while.

"I dunno." Rei answered. "My guess is that Kai is off somewhere by himself, Kenny is probably doing some kind of research and Tyson is goofing off somewhere near here."

"Yeah." Starr agreed. "That sounds about right." She paused. "If that kid isn't careful, he's gonna get into really hot water sometime soon." she said thoughtfully. 

"Uh, Starr. He's already gotten into hot water tons of times." Max said, laughing. "Just wait, he'll-"

"ARRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The threesome heard a loud thud nearby. 

"What the heck was that?" Starr asked.

"Dunno." Rei replied. "Let's go find out!" The three dropped their bags and headed for the area where the voice came from as fast as they could. When they reached the spot they saw…

"Ow!" Tyson rubbed the side of his head. There was a bump there and it was swelling up rapidly by the second. 

Everyone burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh, Tyson!" Starr exclaimed, as Rei helped him up. "What happened??"

Tyson dusted his pants and looked at them stubbornly. "Nothing," he replied casually. "I just….fell outta that tree. He pointed up at a nearby tree. Everyone started laughing again. "Well, it looked liked it'd be fun to climb!" he said defensively. 

"Uh….ok, Tyson." Max said. "Do you wanna come with us? We're heading for the lodge right now."

"Ok!" Tyson said eagerly and bounced along with them, back to where they had dumped their luggage. 

Max looked at the map that Kenny had given him earlier. "We just have to go straight that way." He said, pointing at the path up ahead and started walking. The others followed him until they reached a building. A moment of silence….

"Um….nice." Rei said finally. The others nodded silently. The building was made of brick and looked very new, though not completely finished and a bit small. It seemed to stand out from all the forest and trees. 

"Where were you?" Kenny's head popped out of the door and demanded. "I've been looking for you guys all over the place!" 

"Uh…we had a few difficulties." Max said weakly, looking at Tyson, who was trying his best to look as innocent as possible. 

"Ok…." Kenny replied, deciding that it was best not to ask. "Well, come in."

"Care to show us around, Chief?" Rei asked, stepping in.

"Um…ok. Well, there are five rooms, kind of. This is the main room." The room had three couches and an armchair, a table a fireplace, and also red carpeting, all new! Kenny looked a bit embarrassed. "We'll still have to work out the rooming later." he said quickly, looking at Starr, who seemed unconcerned. Kenny then continued to lead the way. "There's a small storage room on your left. You can put your stuff there. In the back is a mini-kitchen. The bathroom is one your right, and-"

"Wow!" Tyson said with fascination, walking into the bathroom and inspecting everything. "The toilet can flush!" 

"Um….that's great, Tyson." Starr said, pulling him out and dragging him on.

Kenny continued. "There is a smaller room back there that I figured I could use to work on my research…."

"Sure, Chief!" Max answered. "That's fine with us!" The others nodded. 

"Thanks! Hey, where's Kai?"

Rei shrugged. "We don't know."

"Well then, you better go find him. I think we should have a team meeting to talk a couple of things over."

"We're on it, Chief!" Max saluted, grinning and they all split up to go look for Kai.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Half an hour later, they had finally found Kai (or Kai had found them) and were all sitting in the main room, facing each other. Kenny cleared his throat and opened his laptop. "Ok, here's the deal: Behind this building is a small training area. Right now, I'm trying to find some information on who may be at the tournament and their bitbeasts."

"You know, Starr could help with this." Rei said. "She probably knows most about other people's bitbeasts."

"Well, that would work too." Kenny replied sheepishly. "Um, Starr would you like to help us?"

"Sure!" she replied. "Just a sec." She got up and left the room. Everyone exchanged confused glances and shrugged. (A/N: I think by now you guys know that 'everyone' usually doesn't include Kai ^_^ Ok, I'll get back to the story, now) 

About 30 seconds later she emerged with something under her arm…..a midnight-blue laptop.

"You've got a laptop?" asked Kenny incredulously. 

"Yeah. You can't expect me to remember everything that I learn." She opened it. "Oh, yeah. My laptop doesn't talk, so don't be disappointed." She grinned at Kenny.

"Hey, remember! I can hear you just as well as I can talk!" Dizzi said. Everyone laughed.

"Okay," Starr started typing, then stopped and turned the screen around for everyone to see. "I've been to this tournament the last time they had it. I was 6, but I still remember it coz I had done research on some of the bitbeasts." 

"Cool!" Tyson said.

"Yeah. But that was eight years ago. I doubt that anyone who was there will be there again. They're probably all old now or have stopped blading. But I betcha that some of those bitbeasts I saw might be there."

"Really?" Kenny was interested.

"Wait, but how does that work out?" Max asked. 

Starr shrugged. "The bitbeasts may leave the bit." she answered simply. "Or more likely, the last owners of the bitbeasts passed them on to a friend, or a relative."

"Oh!" Rei said. "Like how I got my bitbeast!"

"Um, yeah." Starr said. She still didn't know any of their bitbeasts yet, but she had a weird feeling that now was not the time to ask. "Anyways," she continued typing. "This is probably gonna be the toughest tournament that you have ever been to. Every round is going to be a bitbeast to bitbeast head-on collision." She paused again and took a deep breath. "Even though not many people about the tournament, the bladers are the best there are. Period."

"Wait!" Rei interrupted. "What do you mean by 'not many people know about the tournament'?"

"Did you know about it before?" Starr asked slyly. 

"Uh….no." Rei answered sheepishly.

"And that's the point." Starr replied. "This is a tournament that only the pros need to know about. The only spectators in the stands are usually close friends, relatives, judges, and workers for the BBA. If you're not any one of those, it's really hard to get tickets to see this, and you can only tape it is you get special permission from the BBA. It's actually really nice, since there aren't as much fans screaming and you can actually concentrate. Unless, of course the cheering helps you." she added. "But don't worry, you'll always have the rest of the team, of course!"

"Wow!!" Tyson said. "I feel so important now!"

"You are." Max assured him. 

"Well then, do you have suggestions to how we can train for this?" Kenny asked.

Starr frowned and bit her lip thoughtfully. "I might…." she said slowly. 

"Yeah?" Max asked.

"Well…." 

"Yeah?" everyone asked.

"……"

"SAY IT ALREADY!!!!" Tyson yelled, blowing everyone off their seats. "I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!"

Starr hastily got back up and wiped the dust off her pants. "Geez!" she said, hoisting herself back on the couch and looking around. She sighed. Everyone was looking at her, expecting an answer. "Tell you what." She said. "It's almost dinnertime. Why don't you put something together, while I work out a few things?? You don't mind if I use your little work room thingie, do you Chief? No? Ok, see you guys later!" She walked quickly out of the room. Everyone stared after her in disbelief. Tyson groaned loudly. "Aw, man! One of these days she's gonna drive me completely nuts!" he complained.

Rei looked at the rest of the group. "Um, should we start making dinner, then?" he asked uncertainly.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

As it turned out, the only person who actually helped cook dinner was Rei. Tyson and Max were goofing around outside. Kenny was moping around, upset because his claimed workspace was being occupied by someone else. Kai had been long gone, probably off somewhere in the woods to practice. Finally, at around 7:30 pm, everyone was gathered together, ready to eat. They ate in the main room, sitting on the couches and on the floor. Someone had started a fire in the fireplace and it was crackling merrily. 

"Yum!" Tyson's muffled voice said. "You sure are a good cook, Rei!" 

"Yeah, you are!" Starr agreed. "This is delicious!"

"Thanks." Rei replied, with a hint of pride in his voice. "My uncle is a chef, so I've learned a lot about cooking from him."

"Cool!" Max said. 

"Starr, are you gonna tell us what ideas you've got for our training?" Kenny asked.

Starr shrugged. 'Why can't he get off my case?' she thought. "You'll find out tomorrow." She answered breezily. "Today, we're all gonna relax."

"Except for Kai, that is." Tyson answered. "I doubt he ever relaxes." 

"Hmph" Kai replied, then said nothing more.

Starr noticed that Kenny was fidgeting in his seat. "By the way Chief, I don't need to use your room anymore. You can have it now." she told him.

Kenny looked relieved. "Thanks!" he said, gathering his laptop. "I've got a cool new idea for Tyson's attack ring!"

"Cool, Chief!" Tyson replied enthusiastically, taking his Dragoon out and removing the bit. He handed it to Kenny, who took it and started for the small room, then stopped and turned around suddenly as if remembering something important that he had forgotten. 

"Hey Starr." he said. Starr looked up. "Would you mind if I took a look at one of your blades?" he asked hopefully. "It'd be really interesting, and I might even be able to improve it or something."

Starr slowly reached for her pocket, though her expression was doubtful. "Ok," she said, taking the bit off of the light blue beyblade she had taken out. "But I don't think you'll be able to improve anything. All my beyblade parts are custom-made."

"Cool!" Max said excitedly. "I wanna see those later!" 

"Max's dad owns a hobby shop." Rei explained to Starr. "So he's really into beyblade parts." 

Starr nodded and gave Allegra to Kenny. "Be careful with it. I mean, don't lose it or anything." Her voice sounded worried. "I've never trusted anyone with my blades before."

Kenny looked proud. "Don't worry." He assured her. "I'll be sure give it back to you tomorrow." Kenny turned and rushed out of the room. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Rei opened his eyes and heard the sound of birds chirping. He sat up and blinked, confused at where he was. Finally he remembered where he was and why. Looking around, he saw Tyson sprawled on the floor, snoring loudly. Max was on his left and Kai on the right. Both of them were also still asleep. Where were Starr and the Chief? Chief was probably still working on Tyson's blade, he remembered. Starr was probably off somewhere again. He got up, stretching and yawning. He remembered breakfast, and starter heading for the small kitchenette when he noticed a note on the table. From Starr, obviously. He reached over to grab it and unfolded it slowly 'Went out for a bit. Be back in a little while. Try to get everyone up, ok? -Starr.' Folding the note back up, Rei thought about what to do. He'd wake the Chief up first, then try everyone else. He headed for the small room, taking the note with him. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Hey, Chief! Wake up!" Kenny woke up. Someone was shaking him. Sleepily, he lifted his head. It was Rei.

"What? What time is it?" he asked in a tired voice. 

Rei got a good look at Kenny's face, which was tired. His eyes were bloodshot and dark. "Whoa, you don't look too hot right now."

Kenny ignored his comment and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" he asked again.

Rei checked the clock hanging on the wall. "It's almost seven." 

"WHAT?? Oh no…." Kenny cried, and started running around, pulling at his hair.

"Already? I still need to put some finishing touches on Tyson's blade!"

"You snooze, you loose!" Dizzi's voice said rather happily.

Rei silently handed him the note. "What's this?" Kenny asked.

"It's from Starr."

Kenny skimmed through it quickly, then set it down. "What should we do?"

Rei shrugged. "Try to wake everyone up?" he suggested.

"BUT I HAVEN'T FINISHED YET!" Kenny cried.

Rei sighed. "Tell you what. I'll go wake up Kai and Max. Then, while you finish your work, the rest of us will try to wake Tyson up." 

Kenny looked relieved. "Ok. Thanks."

* * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

About half an hour later, Rei, Kai, Max, and Kenny were all sitting in the main room, awake, finished, ready and waiting. Tyson, who was currently the main attraction, was still asleep, drooling and snoring on the floor. (He had fallen off the night before. ^_^) "….cookies…." he mumbled. "….food….mmm….."

Max shook his head. "Wow." he exclaimed in amazement.

"Wow what?" a voice said coming from the doorway. Standing there was Starr, looking refreshed and ready. 

"Wow that." Max rolled his eyes in direction of the drooling figure.

Starr stared at Tyson. "I'm guessing you couldn't wake him up." she said rather lamely.

"What do you think?" Kenny was starting to get annoyed at the sleeping Tyson. "Oh, and by the way, Starr, here's your beyblade."

'Thanks" she said, taking and pocketing the blade. "Have you guys eaten yet?" 

"Yeah." Rei replied. "But Tyson obviously hasn't."

"I knew that." Starr said dryly. Then she perked up. "I know!" she said. Isn't there any food left?"

"Yeah." Rei pointed at the table.

"Why, are you hungry?" Max asked.

"No, but I betcha TYSON is." She grinned, and took a strip of bacon, and waved it in front of Tyson's face."

"Mmmmmmmm….yummy…." Tyson replied drowsily, reaching for the food, then slowly opened his eyes. As he saw what he had smelt, his eyes widened and he jumped up. "YUM! I'm starving!" he cried, pouncing on the table and chowing down. Everyone sweatdropped.

After a moment of pigging out, Tyson paused and looked at the group. "Hey everyone! What are all of you looking at me for?" he asked jumping off.

:"Nothing, Tyson." Max replied quickly.

"Oh. Ok!"

Kenny handed him his beyblade. "Here. I altered the attack ring a little and it should perform a bit better."

"COOL!! Thanks Kenny!" Tyson replied, taking the blade and snapping the bit back on. "Wow!"

"So what's the plan, Starr?" Rei asked.

"We're going to the training center outside. Don't bring your beyblades- Wait; bring them anyways, just in case." Max gave her an odd look, then looked at the others, who shrugged. Then they followed her outside.

* * * * * * * * *

"Ok, here's the deal." Starr told them when they reached the outdoor training area. It had four steel dishes and a bench area. "As you can probably tell, this place hasn't been entirely finished yet. But that's okay, coz we don't need any fancy equipment today."

"What are we gonna do, then?" Max asked her, while the others took out their blades.

"Put your blades away. You don't need them right now." she replied. Kai raised an eyebrow. What the heck was this girl up to? The others also had weird looks on their faces.

Starr noticed their confusion. "Hey, don't worry. I know what I'm doing." She assured them. 

"Um….what kind of training are we supposed to be doing without a blade?" Max asked still confused.

"What do you mean without a blade?" Starr asked, grinning her know-it-all grin. "I've got the blades you're gonna use right here." She patted her backpack. 

"What?" Kenny, Rei, Max, and Tyson said at the same time. 

Starr dug through her backpack once again and this time pulled out a couple of blades and launchers and handed them to the others. "We're using these."

"They took them, inspecting them closely. The blades were completely white, and all identical. They were very basic and very plain. So were the launchers.

"That's right. Sometimes when you get a bitbeast, you begin to rely on the bitbeast only and ignore your own skills." she explained. "I think everyone with a beyblade will do that a bit at some point in their life. But you've gotta remember that your bitbeast is there, but your skill is almost just as important. It's meaningless for a blader to have a bitbeast if he's an amateur until he becomes better and improves."

"So, we already knew that. What's your point?" Tyson was starting to get bored. 

"I know all of you already know. But many bladers tend to forget it anyways."

"She's got a point, you know…" Kenny said thoughtfully. 

"So we're gonna practice today without anything at all. No bitbeasts, no special hi-tech blades or launchers-" Kenny blushed, a bit embarrassed. Starr continued "No anything. Just raw skill. This will be your advantage over many other bladers with bitbeasts. So let's see what you can get out of these crummy blades!"

"Hey, that actually makes sense!" Tyson said.

"That's a miracle. Nothing usually makes sense to Tyson!" Rei answered with a grin.

"Except for food, of course." Max teased. 

"Hey!" Tyson protested. 

"So that's what we're gonna do." Starr told them. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Tyson and Max replied. 

'This will be rather interesting.' Kenny thought, finding a seat on a bench and opening up his laptop while the rest of the team took their positions.

"LET….IT…..RIIIIIIIIIIP!!!!" 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Well, another chapter done. Sorry it took me a while to post this. Also sorry if this chapter's kinda confusing and really sucks, coz I haven't had a lot of time to work on it lately. HOMEWORK DIE!!!! *runs after homework with a knife* Oops, sorry. Got a bit carried away. ^_^;;

Well, next chapter is the real thing, the beginning of the tournament! YAY!!! ^_^ I'll start working on that ASAP. 

Ok, so now you've read this, and you know the procedure. Yep, the second part of R+R!! Please review coz I'd like to get an idea of how many people are actually reading this right now. 

Thanks!

STARWOLF ^_~


	12. Friends or Enemies?

Hey everyone!  Sorry I haven't been updated for ages.  I blame school, writer's block and…..and…..everything else!!  But I've finally dragged my lazy butt back to the computer screen; i've finally decided to go back at it.  Go me!  ^__^ Well then, let's get started, we've got no time to spare!!!

Disclaimer: Nope, even after all this time, I still don't own Beyblade.  Can you believe it?

**Chapter 12: Friends or Enemies**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

 "Ok guys!  We're finally here!!" Max said cheerfully as the Bladebreakers walked down the street together (well…Kai was a little behind…but you know that already ^-^).

Tyson stopped suddenly, looking up at the huge building in front of him, gaping.  "Aren't we supposed to be going to our hotel??" he asked, with confusion in his voice.  "This looks like a stadium to me!!"

"That's right Tyson!" Kenny replied, happy for the opportunity to show off his knowledge.  "This is the Beyblade Maple Dome, a very famous stadium.  It also has a hotel that also is very well known.  It's very world-class and it's also where we're going to stay for the tournament."

"ALRIGHT!!!" Tyson and Max cheered, giving each other high-fives.  Rei seemed pretty excited about the concept as well.  

"I'm told by Mr. Dickinson that we have a suite reserved for us." Kenny continued.  This resulted in more cheering from Tyson and Max.  "We are very lucky to have such a nice place to stay in.  This hotel is almost always full.  Of course we should be very polite and on our best behavior." Kenny looked pointedly at Tyson, who tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Me?  What are you looking at me for?" he asked in a good-little-boy's voice.  "Don't worry Chief; I'll be on my best behavior."

"That's not saying very much." Rei mumbled to the others.

Tyson protested.  "Hey, I mean it.  I'll be a little angel.  It's Kai you all should be worried about.  He'll probably scare everyone away!"  He shut up quickly as Kai glared at him, and the gang continued their walk into the stadium.

Just as they were heading up the steps there was a sound as a bus pulled up behind them.  They turned around to see.   

"What the?" Rei asked as dozens of _girls started piling out._

"What's this, some kind of party?" Starr said, obviously confused as well. 

Then, one of the girls spotted the group.  "LOOK!!" she cried.  "IT'S THEM!"    

"What the heck is going on?  Who are these people?  What do they want?" Kenny asked incredulously.

 He soon found out. 

"KAI!!!!!!   REI!!!!!!!!"  The girls screamed wildly, rushing at them.  Many of them had posters, signs, cameras, markers and other things of that type with them.

It took a while for the group to realize what was going on.  

"Uh-oh…..." All 6 of them turned around and ran for hotel entrance.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I thought you said that most people didn't know about this tournament." Max said to Starr, breathing heavily as they sprinted down the hallway towards safety.

"They don't." Starr replied, apparently annoyed.  "But Kai and Rei didn't tell me they had a stalking fan club."  

As they reached the door to the suite, Kenny pulled out the key and unlocked it.  And they entered it, panting heavily.  But their tiredness was quickly forgotten when they saw the rooms that would be their home for the next couple of weeks.  After the long and exciting (plus tiring) process of exploring all the rooms (that already took a while), figuring out the rooming (Rei would room with Kai, Tyson would room with Max and the Chief, and Starr had a room to herself), and trying to keep Tyson from jumping on all of the beds ("PILLOWS!!!"), they eventually grew bored.  They sat down together and tried to think of what to do next.  

"I know." Starr spoke up excitedly.  "How about we walk around and check this place out?  This place in huge!  I'm sure there'll be interesting things to see."

"And get chased around by that mob again??" Kenny shuddered.  "No thank you."

"We'll steer clear outta their way." Starr assured him.  "Plus there will be other cool people to meet."  She paused.  "I have some old friends that I haven't seen for ages, and I think some of them might be in this tournament.  We'll be able to meet lots of other bladers from the tournament too."

"Now I'm up for that!" Tyson said happily.

"Me too!" Max said.

"Count me in!" Rei added.

"Chief?  What about you then?" 

Kenny winced.  "Well, I would like to meet some of our competition." He admitted slowly.

"Ok, one last person.  Kai?"

Kai sighed.  "Sure.  Whatever." 

"It's settled then!" Starr said contently.  "Let's go!" 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * 

5 of our Bladebreakers looked rather blankly at each other while Kai, looking cool, yet slightly frustrated, stayed a bit behind with arms crossed. 

"Uh…." someone said.  "I think we're lost."

"No kidding, Tyson." Starr said.  "How did you guess?"  Looking around at the rest of the crew, she asked them.  "What happened to that map that we had?"

All eyes turned on Tyson.  "Uh….um…." he said sheepishly.

Rei sighed.  "Thanks a lot." he said.

"Well…..uh…."

Max grinned.  "This is the first time I've ever since _Tyson _at a lost for words."

"………….."

The others started laughing as well.  After a while, Kenny spoke up.  "I guess we should go find someone and find out where we are then."

"Yea." Rei agreed, looking around.

"Excuse me." An unfamiliar feminine voice asked behind him.  He whipped around quickly.  So did the others.

It was indeed a girl.  She was tall, with dark reddish hair that reached below the shoulder and matched her large orange colored eyes.  On her head was a black leather headband.  And behind her were…..three more girls.  (what else??  hehe)  Two of the were brunettes and the other had short black hair.  One of them giggled.  "I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know we are right now?" The redhead girl asked them. Everyone was silent for a moment as the girl and her friends waited for an answer.  The girl flipped her flaming hair over her shoulders.  "Well??" she asked impatiently. 

"Sorry, we have no idea." Rei replied.  "We're trying to figure out how to get outta here ourselves.  Why don't you guys come with us?"  Kenny, Tyson and Max nodded behind him.

"Thanks." The girl replied gratefully.  "By the way, my name's Adriana." She said, smiling warming at them, making the boys (except Kai) blush slightly.  Starr rolled her eyes. 

"I'm Rei." Rei answered.  His voice was followed by others. 

"Hiya!!  I'm Tyson!"  

"Max!"  

"Hello.  My name is Kenny."  Everyone then waited for the other two team members to make their introduction.  They didn't say anything.  

"Oh, this is Starr, and that's Kai." Max finally said after a brief moment of awkward silence.  Rei glanced at Starr, who seemed stubbornly, and strangely silent.  For her, at least.  What's up with her, he wondered.

"Cool." Adriana replied.  "These are my friends and teammates:" She gestured at the group of friends. "Jen," she introduced, nodding at the girl nearest to her.  "Rava and Matty."

"Excuse me." Kenny said.  "But did you say _teammates_?"

"Yea, she did." Jen said loudly.  She was the only girl taller than Adriana and she had dark chocolate brown hair that reached her waist.  "We're a blading team."

"Really?" Max asked.

"Yea.  Our team name is the Blader Gurlz.  Heard of us?" 

"Uh, sorry no." Rei said.

"Well, we're competing in the upcoming beyblade tournament."  Jen continued, her dark brown eyes showing slight annoyance.. 

"You're kidding me!" Tyson's mouth dropped open.  "We're in the tournament too!"

"Not THE Tournament, you aren't."  Another girl, Matty spoke up.  She was a shorter girl with bouncy chestnut brown hair that curled out at the bottom.  

"Do you mean the Tournament of the Bitbeasts?" Tyson said proudly.  "Coz that's the tournament we're headed to."

The girls seemed a bit shocked for a moment, then regained their composure.  "Really." Jen said, in an amused voice.  Then what's your team name?"

"We're the Bladebreakers, that's who!" Tyson announced.  Silence……  

"Wow!" Adriana breathed at last.  "I _thought_ you guys looked familiar.  I've seen you on TV before!  I guess I just couldn't recognize you because I didn't know that there_ were any girls on your team."  She looked in Starr's direction.  Starr snorted in disgust but didn't say anything._

"Starr's our newest member." Rei said quickly.

"Oh.  Well that's cool.  It's good that there are more girl bladers out there now."  Adriana's voice wasn't too sure of what she had just said though.

"So how long have you guys been blading?" Rei asked, trying to change the subject.  Starr shot him a grateful look as they continued walking down the hallway.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Well I'm glad we finally for here."  Kenny said as they approached the lobby.  "I thought we were never going to find our way back."

"Yeah."  Adriana agreed.  She looked around at her teammates.  "Well, we've gotta go now.  It was really cool meeting all of you." The four Blader Gurlz gathered together.  "See ya at the tournament." she said.

"Bye." The three other girls said together.  After the farewell was returned by the majority of the Bladebreakers, the girls left them.  The Bladebreakers found a couple of couches and sat down to rest.

"Well, they were nice." Tyson said after a while. 

"Yeah," Max agreed.  

"We might have to face them in the tournament, you know" Rei pointed out.

"Then we'll get to see if they really are as good as they say!  I'm sure we're much better." Tyson said.  "I can't wait!" 

"Yeah!!" Max said enthusiastically.  

"Don't be so sure." Kai said darkly.  "Remember, all of the bladers at the tournament will have bitbeasts, and they've been asked by the BBA to come.  The BBA won't just choose any person with a bitbeast to enter the tournament.  None of the bladers there will be pushovers."  He smirked.  "None of them except Tyson, that is."

Tyson growled.  "Why you….." he said, advancing towards Kai.  (not like he'd stand a chance ^_^)  

Rei and Max pushed him back down.  "Calm down dude!" Rei said.

"Yeah!" said Max.

Tyson finally settled down. "Well, I still think that we can beat everyone!" He said cockily after a while.

"Yeah!" Max said again.

Kenny looked at Max exasperatedly.  "Have you noticed that all you've been saying this whole time is 'yeah'?"

"Yeah!"  Everyone sweatdropped.

Rei looked around.  "Hey, what's going on over there?"  By the doorway there was a small crowd of people. 

"Dunno." Starr spoke for first time in a while.  "Let's go find out."  The others got up with her, leaving a bored Kai by his lonesome…..

"Excuse me.  Coming through!  Whoops, I'm sorry." Tyson accidentally knocked into a reporter as he pushed through the crowd, who scowled at him nastily. Starr, Max, Rei and Kenny followed him at a distance until they finally reached the center.  Tyson looked disappointed.  "Awww….it's only an old woman, nothing special.  Let's go."  He turned to leave.  The others, who hadn't yet seen who/what the center of attention turned with him. 

"Starr!" An older woman's voice said in a surprised voice.  Starr turned back around, looking just as surprised as anyone else.  She looked at the woman, who was pushing her way towards her and recognized the face, whose current expression was full of excitement and ecstasy.  _Oh, great,_ she thought to herself.  _Just who I needed._  Quickly she gestured for Rei, Kenny, Max, and Tyson to go back.  She'll have to deal with this herself.  The boys looked at her oddly, and then  looked at each other.  They shrugged and walked back to Kai.

* * *

Kai looked at them with a questioning look on his face.  "Well, there's a woman over there." Rei explained.  "And I think she knows who Starr is.  She told us to come back.   Starr, that is."

"Weird." Tyson added, sitting back down.

"Yeah." Max agreed.

Starr came back soon after.  "Sorry about that." she said wearily.  The woman must have already left, because the crowd was gone.

"Who was that, Starr?" Kenny asked her.

Starr shook her head.  "Oh, no one." she said with an assuring smile.  "I've got all things under control now."  Kai raised his eyebrows in suspicion to those words but didn't say anything.  "Hey who are those people over there?" Starr pointed, trying to change the subject.  There were a group of 5 teens about their age of in the distance.  They were so far off you couldn't tell what their faces looked like.  "They look like they might be bladers.  Think we should….?"  She sounded hopeful, Kenny noticed.

"YEAH!!" Tyson and Max said immediately.  

Rei looked just as enthusiastic.  "Definitely!"

"Let's go, then!!" Starr impatiently pulled everyone up

* * * .

As they walked nearer towards the might-be-bladers, Rei saw the excited look on Starr's face fall slightly.  He guessed that these weren't the friends that Starr had been looking for.  Still, she kept walking, trying not to show any trace disappointment.  Finally, they reached the group of teens, who were talking to each other animatedly and hadn't noticed the approaching party.

Tyson and Max got there first.  "Hi!" Tyson said brightly!  The people turned around.  There were 3 guys and 2 girls, and they looked surprised.  "I'm Tyson." Tyson extended his hand to the nearest guy, who took it, uncertainly, still confused.  

"Do we know you?" he asked.

"Nope." Max said brightly.  "But I'm Max."  By this time everyone else had reached where they were too.  Max quickly introduced them.

The group of teens still looked quite taken aback.  The boy who had shaken Tyson's hand finally spoke again.  He looked a couple of years older than Tyson.  "I'm Mark." He said in a baritone voice, which was now friendlier.  He was tall, with sandy brown hair and amber eyes.  "And this is Andrea, Rune, Andrew, and Tavi."

"Hi!" They all said together in unison.

"So why are you guys here?" Andrew asked them.  He was probably the youngest guy there with chestnut brown hair and green eyes. 

"We have a beyblade tournament that we're in." Rei answered.  

"You've got to be kidding!!" Andrea, the girl with the dark brown hair said.  "So are we!"  Tyson cast a knowing glance at Starr.  So she was right.

"Cool!" Max said.  "Maybe we'll be able to compete against each other!  That'd be sooooo awesome!!"

"Totally!!" agreed Andrew, who was starting to like Max very much.  They then started in a lively conversation when Tyson's stomach started growling hungrily.  The others looked at him, bewildered.  Tyson laughed uncertainly.  "Well…." He said after a moment.  "I think I'm hungry."  The Bladebreakers sweatdropped.  Kenny looked embarrassed.  

"Well I guess we better go eat then." Rei told the other team.  "Would you like to come swith us?"

Andrew looked hopeful but Mark shook his head.  "Sorry," he said regretfully.  "We've got a busy schedule today.  Maybe next time."

"Sure." Starr said.  "See ya then!"

"Yeah!" Max said.  "See ya at the tournament!"

"Or sooner!" Tyson added.  

"Bye!" they replied and the Bladebreakers were on their way again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ok, so that was a lame place to end a chapter.  I guess it's getting kinda confusing now too.  Sorry, but this chapter's getting long and I'm getting a bit tired.  Anyways, I'll start on the next chapter sometime soon and hopefully will get it done by the end of next week, since I've got break!!!  One whole week of school off!! YAY!!!  ^_^

So pleez review and tell me what you think!!  ^_^  *holds our a jar of cookies*  Oh, and if you have a beyblade fic that you'd like me to read and review for you, I'd be happy to do it, as long as it's not yaoi.  

k, bye 4 now!!  
  


starwolf


	13. Live and Learn

Hey guys it's me!  I know, I know I'm a really slow updater.  I blame the homework, and school and parents , um, my friends, and uh, the movie theater and everything else!!  Well anyways, I've run out of things to blame, I've just hadn't had much time to do this lately so sorry!!!  Ok, um, we'll just start now, ok?

Disclaimer: Same as always.  Nothing has changed. Surprise, surprise!

**Chapter 13: Live and Learn**

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next morning, everyone woke up early, eager for this new day to be a good one.  They all gathered together by the café in the hotel.  But there was one Bladebreaker missing……

"Sorry I'm late." Kenny apologized as he ran up to them, panting.  "I've been doing some-"

"Research."  Tyson filled in for him in a tone that implied that he couldn't have been doing a more boring thing.  "We know."  He then looked at his stomach pitifully.  "But why did you have to do all that research now, Chief??  I'm starving!"

"Sorry." Kenny said again.  "But I _did_ find out some very interesting stuff about the Tournament."  

Starr looked around.   "Tell you what," she said.  "Let's go into that café for breakfast and then Kenny can tell us whatever he learned."

"Great Idea!!"  Tyson said wholeheartedly.  "Hurry up!  Let's go inside!!"

After they had settled down and the waiter had taken their orders, Rei stretched and said.  "So what's all this cool info you were gonna tell us, Chief?"

"Right," Kenny said, opening up his laptop on the table.  "Straight to it.  Well, first of all there are the battle rules and styles."

"Ken-ny!!" Tyson whined, interrupting him.  "We already know about the rules, and the styles are just different dishes and stuff like that.  Nobody cares about stuff like that!"  

Kenny looked peeved off.

"Actually, Tyson, these beyblading rules and styles are a lot more complicated and different than you think." Dizzi's voice said from the laptop.

"Really?? How??"      

"Well," Kenny began in an over-controlled voice.  "The battles in themselves are different."

"How?" Max asked eagerly.

"For starters, the battles aren't always one-on-one."

"Really?  Then what are they?" asked Tyson.

"Yea, what?" echoed Max

"It all pretty much varies.  Over the years there have been some records of double blading, or two bladers vs. two bladers."

"Cool!" Max said.

"Yea!" said Tyson

"That's really hard because bitbeast usually don't work with other bitbeasts very well so it takes a lot of work and talent."

"Why don't they get along?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Kenny finally looked at Max and Tyson exasperatedly.  "Will you two stop interrupting me?" He asked his voice getting higher in pitch.  Tyson snickered and Max grinned broadly, but they didn't say anything else.  

Starr tried to hide her smile but instead exchanged slightly amused glances with Rei and Kai.  She already knew this stuff, but still she listened.

"There is also team blading, where the whole team verses another team in a huge blading dish.  But of course there has to be an equal number of bladers in each team." Kenny took a deep breath before continuing.  "Also, bladers don't have to release bitbeasts if they don't want to during a battle.  And then there are tests for skills, races and stuff like that.  The team sends out their fastest blader the blader with the most endurance and they prove how strong the bitbeast is.  You'll see when we actually start."

Just then, the food came.  After eating a bit, Kenny continued.  "Next, are the bladers themselves.  I found a file on the past Tournaments….."

"-and broke through about two dozen security codes in the process." Dizzi announced. 

"Wow!" Max said, awed.

"Anyways, the file was about the last Tournament of the Bitbeasts, which was 8 years ago.  The name of the team who won was called the 'Shadow Raptors.'  According to this file, the captain of the team was a 15 year old boy."

"Just like Kai!" Tyson pointed out gleefully.

"Yes, 15 like Kai, so he'd be 23 by now.  Also there's another thing that makes him like Kai, he had a bird bitbeast.  Actually all the members of his team had bird bitbeasts, or more specifically, raptors, or birds of prey.  In this tournament you are allowed three match-losses before you're actually out -the tournament is that intense- but these guys didn't ever lose, not once. "  

Kai didn't say anything.. He was looking at Starr, who had been looking down at her plate in silence ever since the Chief had mentioned the "last Tournament of the Bitbeasts".  Rei had noticed this too and the two boys exchanged glances for a brief moment before turning back to the conversation.

"That's really cool!" Max was saying.  He then turned to Starr.  "You were at the last Tournament, right?"

"Huh?" Starr looked up and blinked twice.  "What?"

"Are you ok??' Max asked, concerned.  "I was just wondering if you saw the Shadow Raptors when you were at the tournament 8 years ago."

"Oh." Starr came back to reality.  "Yea, of course I did." she said quickly.  Rei noticed a hint of something in her voice, but couldn't quite place what it was.  Was she lying?? 

"Awesome!!" Tyson had said.       

By then, they had all finished eating and were full.  They all got up and paid separately.  ("I'm _not_ paying for all that crap Tyson ate" Kai had said.)  Starr walked out behind everyone else, still in a bit of a daze.  Kai watched out the corner of eye as he saw her miss a turn that the others had made.  _If she doesn't starting looking she's gonna run into that guy-_

"Ugh!" Starr exclaimed as she landed on her butt.  Rubbing her head gingerly, she slowly looked up towards the person/thing she had collided with.  He or she or it or whatever it was, was really tall!!!  It was a guy.    

"Are you ok?" The guy's voice asked her, full of concern.  While he spoke, he held his hand down to her.  She couldn't see him very well but he had dark hair that fell slightly over his face.  She reached for it and stood up.

"Th-thanks" She managed to say.  She inspected him closer.  His hair was a dark brown, almost black with blue eyes.  "I'm sorry about that." She said quickly.  

"No problem." He replied.  "I've got to go now.  Bye!"  He smiled at her gently before walking off.

Starr stared after him in disbelief.

By now the rest of the team has realized that she was behind and had gone back to her. 

They all looked pretty amused, except for Kai, who was also gazing at the boy's retreating back, though with suspicion.

"I think she likes that guy!" Tyson said in a taunting voice.

"I think so too!"  Rei grinned mischievously.  "But was he so good that he was worth literally falling for?  I mean, you've only just met him!"  He teased. 

To their surprise, instead of lunging at them, Starr continued to look in that direction, then looked at them sadly and shook her head.  "No, that's not it." she finally said.  "It's just that….he just seemed really familiar."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

A couple of hours later, Starr had finally returned to her own self.  She, Rei, Tyson and Max were soon goofing around in their suite while Kai watched them boredly and Kenny continued with his research.  The foursome had just started in on a pillow fight when Kenny finally said loudly in a shrill voice.  "Will you guys be quiet for just a minute?"  They quieted down, but Kenny knew that this would only be temporary.  He spoke quickly before they started again.  "I just got an e-mail." He announced.  "It's from the BBA."

"Cool, Chief!" Tyson scrambled to the front of the laptop to see.  "What's it say??" 

"Well, according to the e-mail, the opening ceremony for the tournament is starting tomorrow!"

"AWESOME!!" Max exclaimed.

"It'll be really cool!" Starr said just as eagerly.  "Last time they did it, it was really fun!"

"Sounds exciting!" Rei said.  

"Yeah!!  I can't wait!" Tyson added.

"Tomorrow," Starr said dreamily.  "The tournament REALLY starts!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Well, there goes the end to another chapter.  A short one, I know.  But I figured I had to post it sooner or later.  I promise next chappie will be longer, I probably have no choice in that.

**NOTES AND THANKS TO REVIEWERS**: (I know, I haven't done this in ages)

_invader mya and her yami's_- Other people's characters will be in the fic starting the next chapter.  I hope that's ok with you

_Bookie_- Yea, non-yoai fics are getting kinda rare, aren't they??  I guess that part IS kinda confusing, sorry about that.  I love your fic too!

_Doped Out Bunny_- Thanks you SOOOO much, like always.  I'm sorry there wasn't a lot of max in this chapter, but then there wasn't a lot of anyone in this chapter since is was so short,

_Kai-Dranzer-6_- Wow!!!!  We've already finished that too!!  Just goes to show what a slow updater I am, at least for my own fics

_nObOdY_- I know, I'm probably the world's slowest updater. *smiles guiltily*

_Paiku_- I'm glad you liked my fic!  Your fic rox too!!!

_twilight knight_- thanks so much for your review as always!!!  I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter!

_ShadowDragon22_- thanks for the reviews and telling me about the chapter problem!  I'm glad you liked the fic!

_MidNight_-Street-Fighter_- Yep, the update is right here!!  And thanks for the chars!_

Once again, a BIG thanks to everyone!!!  Well, I'm officially done for now!!  *takes out a timer*  Now let's see how long it takes for me to update THIS time!!  Hopefully it'll be soon!!  So why don't you try and get me to try harder by pressing the "review button" and telling me??  Hehe JK, but pleez, REVIEW ANYWAYS!!!!!!

Starwolf


	14. The Ceremony

Starwolf: Well, I'm finally back!!!  SUMMER IS HERE AND I FINALLY HAVE TIME TO UPDATE ALL MY FICS!!!!  So there, evil teachers!!  You've tried to delay all of my updates by giving us all those finals BUT YOU LOST IN THE END!!!  MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!!

Beyblade cast: O.O 

Starwolf: ^.^ ….well anyways I'm sorry if I kept you waiting.  I just came back from Chicago and I've been busy lately with the usual.  Well, here's chapter 14!  Enjoy!! ^.^

_Disclaimer: You really do think I own Beyblade??  Boy, you're dumb!!!_

**Chapter 14: The Ceremony**

* * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

_BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!_  Kenny groaned and sat up wearily as the alarm clock next to him continued to sound.  He rubbed his eyes, yawning and trying to remember why he was getting up so early today.  That's when he remembered and a grin grew slowly on his face.  It the day of the Opening Ceremony, how could he have forgotten that??  Hadn't he spent all last night pretty much hyperventilating over it??  As he got up, he glimpsed two limp figures on the bed across from him, one with his head dangling off the bed and snoring rather loudly, and mumbling something that sounded a bit like "No Gramps, don't forget the mustard." as he turned on his side.  Kenny laughed as he walked over to attempt in waking the two sleepyheads up.  

Finally getting them to wake up, after a number of rather unsuccessful tries, the threesome got ready, and then headed out the door, Tyson still yawning.  Kai, Rei, and Starr were already waiting in the other room.  

"What took you so long?" Rei asked them.  His amber eyes were gleaming with excitement, more then ready to go.

Kenny tried to explain.  "We were-"

"Come on!" Starr cut him off eagerly.  "Let's go!" she said impatiently as she dragged the rest of her team, not unwillingly, towards the stadium.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"WHOA!!" Tyson mouth dropped open as he entered the area.  "Look at this place!"  The place had certainly become much more festive then the day before.  Every wall of the giant maple-shaped stadium was draped with thick scarlet tapestry.  There were balloons floating in the air and there were ecstatic people all over the place, including….

"Oh no!!" Max groaned.  "Not them again!!"

"WE LOVE YOU KAI!!"  

"GO REI!!" came the screams from the stands.

Starr rolled her eyes.  "The Kai and Rei fan clubs!" she said.  "I totally forgot about them!"

"Looks like Max and Tyson have some fans too." Rei commented, pointing over.

"Good luck with that crowd, you guys!" Starr said, laughing at them.  "Just don't expect me to help you out if anything happens!"

"Thanks Starr." Rei said sarcastically.  "It's good knowing you'll always be there for us."

"Anytime!"

Kenny took over.  "We've gotta get over to the center.  All the other teams are waiting there!" he said, leading the way.  

Most of the teams were already there.  Rei recognized the Blader Gurlz and also the other teams whom they had talked to the day before.  And over in the corner he saw another slightly familiar face….

"Hey Starr." He nudged her with his elbow.  "Isn't that your guy that you bumped into yesterday?"

Starr strained her neck to look.  "Yea, that is." she said, sounding surprised.  "I didn't know he was a blader.  And why do you insist on calling him 'my guy'?" she added, rolling her eyes when Rei smirked and winked mockingly.

"Ahem!  Attention!" came a voice from the speakers.  All the bladers who had been chatting excitedly with each other looked up.  

"Hey, it's DJ!" someone exclaimed.

"That's right!!" DJ Jazzman flashed a grin from the stage.  "And we're just ready to start the tournament!  The ceremony will start with the introductions of the teams!  Will all members of each team group together and get in order please?  Thank you!"

"This is so exciting!" Kenny said.  "Now we get to meet all of our competition!"

"First up are the Exotic Bladers!" Jazzman announced as the crowd cheered wildly for the five bladers who stood, grinning and waving back.

"Hey!" Max realized.  "Those are the bladers we met yesterday!"  
"The Exotic Bladers are a wicked team from the States!" Jazzman said to the crowd.  "They have been a team for 2 years and so far they remain undefeated!

"Next up is the Fire Blazer team! They are…." Jazzman continued to go through all the teams until he finally got to theirs.  

"And now comes one of the most well-known teams in the tournament!  The Asian, American, and Russian champions….TEAM BLADEBREAKERS!!!!"  

The crowd went even more wild- if that was even possible- with screams of girls, though some people looked at bit confused.  Starr knew they were all looking at her, and wondering since when was there a _girl_ in this team.  Others either didn't notice or didn't seem to care.

After there turn there were still more teams to be announced, among them the Blader Gurlz, the Bladestrikers, Static, and other teams as well.  Finally, there was only one more….

"Last, but definitely not least…." Jazzman took a deep breath.  "….the Shadow Raptors!!"

"The what???" Starr gasped.

"Huh?" The rest of the team looked at her.  Kenny seemed thoughtful.  "Wasn't that the team that won the Tournament 8 years ago?"

"Yes….but how….that's not….."  Starr looked up slowly at the team advancing to the middle of the ring.  "Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed.  

The team followed her gaze.  "I can't believe this!" Max side, looking at the leader of the team, then at Starr.  His eyes were wide.  "It's that guy you bumped into the day before!  He's the leader??" 

Starr didn't answer. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ok, so there was actually supposed to be more to this chapter, but I started getting e-mails and reviews asking me to hurry up, so I just left it like this.  The next part can wait….right??  

Also, just if you want to know, I post announcements and updates on my bio regularly, so if you want to check and find out when the next chapters of my fics will come out or something like that, you can just check.  Convenient, or what?? ^.^

Anyways much thanks to everyone who sent an e-mail and reviewed!!  I love you all!! ^________^  Until the next chapter!

3 starwolf


	15. Round One

I'm so bad!  I had a whole summer to update, but I never did.  And school just started, and NOW I get the urge to write..  Pathetic, huh?  Actually, another reason I stopped writing is because I got mad at ff.net for deleting my Email Surveys fic.  Sorry to anyone who was waiting for a new chapter, though probably everyone's already given up on me. :(  On the brighter side of things, this chapter is pretty darn long.  Well, anyways, here goes:  

Disclaimer: *sigh* It's been 15 chapters, must I go over this again??

**Chapter 15: Round One**

*** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **

"Oh no!" Tyson groaned.  "She's back in her zombie mode again!"

Even a couple of hours later from the ending of the ceremony, Starr was still in deep thought.  "This makes no sense at all."

"What makes no sense at all?" Tyson asked her.

She didn't answer.  Instead, Starr's face brightened to a smile.  "I can't believe it!"

"Can't believe what?" Tyson asked, just as Starr ran off again.  "Oh, never mind." He muttered.  "She's driving me nuts!" He complained

Kai watched closely, eyes narrowing.  _Where's that girl going now?_

*  *  *

"Aidan!"  Starr called, running up to the two guys in front of her.

"Huh?"  The pale haired boy turned around at the sound of his name, letting her catch up.  He grinned when he saw her.  "Hey Starr!!  Long time no see!"  Starr smiled in return.

The dark haired boy behind him froze.  "Starr?" He asked his companion in an astonished voice.  "You're kidding me right?  Her name is _Starr?"  _

"You know her?" Aidan asked him.

"Starr?" The boy repeated incredulously.  "As is S-T-A-R-R?  Two R's?"

His blonde friend looked at him oddly.  "I think so."

Starr grinned at Aidan the dark-haired boy.  "Team Leader of the Shadow Raptors now, huh?"  She winked.  "It really has been a while hasn't it?"

*  *  *

The Bladebreakers sat in their room, tired out from the search.  "We've looked everywhere!" Tyson groaned.  "I give up!"  

"She's got to be somewhere!"  Max exclaimed.  

As if on cue, the door opened and Starr appeared, looking rather cheerful.

"Starr!  You've been gone for hours!" Max said as soon as he saw her.

"Where were you?" Kenny added.

"Relax!" Starr laughed.  "I've just been catching up with some friends." she said.  

"So you've finally found them!" Rei said, happy for his teammate.

"Well, not exactly.  I really didn't expect to see _this_ old friend." She said.  "I haven't him in almost 7 years now!"

"Him?" Max asked.

"7 years?" Kenny added.

"Him?" Max added.

"Yep.  That's why I didn't recognize him when I first saw him. He's the second generation captain of the Shadow Bladers."

"I figured it had something to do with that guy." Rei said.  "But what do you mean by second generation?"

"Well, I shouldn't exactly say second generation.  Do you remember Kenny saying that the team that won the last Tournament of the Bitbeasts was also called the Shadow Raptors?

"Yeah?"  

"Well, the Captain of that Shadow Raptors team is this Captain's older brother."  
"What!?"

"So how did you know them?" Kai finally spoke up.

Starr shrugged.  "I was with them during the whole last tournament.  The leader's name was Jeremy.  Like this year's team, that Shadow Raptor's team had only 3 members and all have bird bitbeasts.  They were all really strong.  I was only 6 and Jeremy's little brother Ryan was 7.  We hung out together during the tournament, watching his big brother train with his team."  Starr laughed as she continued.  "We were kinda like the annoying little brother and sister who always hung around and also the Shadow Raptor team's biggest fans."

"So do they know about your…bitbeasts?" Rei asked her.

"Well, remember that I was only six.  Back then I only had Drayla.  You know, my wolf Bitbeast.  They knew about her."  Starr stopped abruptly, ending the story.  The team sat deep in thought.

"What about their bitbeasts?" Max asked after a while.  "We know that they're all birds, but _what are they?"_

"I don't know." Starr said, frowning thoughtfully.  "I remember the bitbeasts from the last tournament, but I don't think they'll appear.  The members aren't the same so the bitbeasts are probably different."  She shrugged, then stood up.  "Well, I'm done with the Q&A for today.  Let's go do something else." 

"What about training?" Kai said suddenly.  "We have our first match tomorrow."  The others looked up, startled by the news.

"Well, in that case, let's go!" Tyson said enthusiastically.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

"WELCOME to the FIRST ROUND of the Tournament of the Bitbeasts!" Jazzman shouted over the wild frenzy of the crowd.  "Today's match will feature the well-known BLADEBREAKERS and new team the KINGDOM BLADERS!!!"  As loudly as his voice boomed over the speakers, his voice was still eventually drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

Both teams were standing on their side of the dish, waving wildly at their cheering fans.  

"New team, huh?" Rei said to the rest of the team, while still waving and grinning.  

"Yeah." Kenny replied.  "Actually, a lot of these teams are pretty new."

"Why's that?" Max asked curiously as they made their way back to the benches.

"Many of the people with bitbeasts aren't even in a team." Starr told them.  "When they get invitations, they're assigned to a team."

"Ok, then." Tyson said.  He looked over at the four Kingdom Bladers.  "They don't look so tough!" He announced.  "And if they're a fairly new team, then I bet they won't even stand a chance."

"Think again, Tyson." Kai said, his arms crossed.  "How many times have I told you not to underestimate your opponent?  You know that they all have bitbeasts.  We don't know whether or not they can make use of them or not, but don't let down your guard."

"That's right!" Kenny joined in.  "Remember: you don't know ANYTHING about these bladers!"

"I know, I know." Tyson mumbled.

Rei glanced at Starr who was inspecting the members of the Kingdom Bladers one-by-one.  "Know anyone?" he asked her.

Starr turned to face him, then shook her head.  "Nope.  Not personally, anyways."

"Huh?" Max said, as everyone else joined in the conversation. 

"I think I've seen that guy at a tournament somewhere." She pointed to a guy about Kai's age with short black hair.  "I don't know though." She finished.

"Well, if Starr didn't bother to remember him, then he shouldn't be too much of a challenge."  Tyson said confidently.

Kenny sighed.  "I give up."

* * * 

"This is Brad Best, along with my pal AJ Topper.  We're here today in Toronto's Maple Dome for the first round match of this year's Tournament of the Bitbeasts!"

"That's right Brad!  Today's competition is the Bladebreakers team against the Kingdom Bladers!  It seems like the more famous Bladebreakers are the favored team to win for our fans today!"

Max grinned.  "Ya hear that?  We're gonna win this one, no sweat!"

"You bet!" Starr agreed as the two exchanged high-fives.

"Listen up everyone." Kenny said.  "This battle will be a best-of-3 setting.  Who wants to go up first?" He asked.

"Ooh!  Let me go first!" Tyson volunteered.  

"I'll go next!" Max said.

Rei grinned, exposing his fangs.  "All I'll wrap it up!"

"Sounds good to me!" Kenny said.  "Alright Tyson, get up there!"  
"Good luck!" Max caller after him.

"And it seems like the Bladebreakers are sending Tyson to the dish!" Brad Best announced.

"Tyson's an awesome blader whose performance has never let the crowd down." AJ said, as the large screens on either side of the stadium showed Tyson's stats.  "I doubt that neither him or his bitbeast Dragoon will do that this match either."

"Alright!" Tyson said as he stepped up to the dish.

"And spinning for the Kingdom Bladers in the first round is Jackie, a fairly unknown blader who's brought along her bitbeast Nocturna!  Will she come out for a visit?"

Tyson glanced at the girl.  She had messy brown hair, violet eyes, and was rather short.  He smirked.  "Hey, this is a stadium, not a playground you know!" He called to her.  "How old are you, anyways, 5?"

"I'm 14, thank you very much." She answered promptly, glaring at him.  

"I don't believe it!" Tyson said.  "You can't be over 10!" 

"I think Tyson just hit her hard with that remark!" Max observed from the benches.

"You better believe it." Starr said, as she watch Jackie's expression.

"And now it's time to reveal our dish!" Brad told the crowd as the platforms slowly were removed.  

"OHHHHH!!  It's Lasagna!!  Yummy!"  AJ Topper said.  There was a silence as people looked around confused.  "Oh, never mind, wrong type of dish." AJ said sheepishly.  "I meant this is the Triple Threat Dish!" "A standard beyblade dish with two mini dishes in side-by-side in the middle, how wicked is that?"  

"BLADERS READY??" Jazzman shouted.  The two bladers got into lauching position.  "3….2…1….LET IT RIIIIIIPPPPPP!!!!"

"Battle Blade!!" Tyson shouted as he pulled his cord, releasing this beyblade.  Across from him, Jackie did the same.  The two beyblades flew in the air and landed in the dish with a banging thud.  Tyson's in the small dish closest to him and Jackie's in the larger dish below.

"Nocturna!  Bat Wing Blast!"  Jackie shouted immediately.

"And it seems like Jackie has gone for the first attack of the match!" Brad announced, as Jackie's blade beyblade flew up and landed in the same dish Tyson's blade was in slamming into his Dragoon, who flew out and landed by the edge of big dish, still spinning.  

"Is that all you can do?" Tyson grinned at her.  But while he was talking, her blade disappeared.  "Hey where'd you go?" he asked.

Jackie grinned.  "Right next to ya!"  Just as she spoke, her blade reappeared next to his, trying to force him out of the dish.  No luck.  Her blade seemed to give up and retreated to the other side of the dish. Tyson's blade followed closely.

"Hey, will ya get off my tail?" Jackie asked.

Tyson smirked.  "No chance!"  Jackie glared at him and her blade swerved suddenly, losing him.  

"Now Nocturna!" she called.  In a flash of blackness (A/N: Well, I couldn't call it light, could I?? ^_~) two dark wings emerged from the bit of the black blade.

"Some kinda bird?" Max wondered from the seats.

"A bird with an attack called Bat Wing Blast?" Starr said cheerfully, her eyes still glued on the battle.  

"Oh yeah."  

Back in the match, Tyson was inspecting the large bat-beast.  "Wow.  It's pretty impressive." He admitted, then grinned.  "For a kid, that is."  

Jackie, who looked like she was going to jump and strangle him, finally restrained herself and shot him a dirty look, then opened her mouth, calling for her bitbeast to attack.  "Bat Wing Blast Attack!!  Now!!"  Her blade once again slammed into Dragoon, this time more powerful than the last.  The attack sent Dragoon flying threw the air.  It landed in the higher dish on the left, wobbling slightly and left Tyson looking a bit fazed.  

"Whoa!!"_  Gotta concentrate!_  He told himself.  _Think, Tyson.  Think!  _

"Hey Tyson!" Someone called.  He turned around to face him.  It was Kai.  

"Yeah?" Tyson replied.

"Don't go after her bitbeast." He said.

"WHAT!!?"

"Don't go after her bitbeast." Kai repeated.  "Wait for her to come to you."

"Huh?  What do you me---OHH!!  I get it!  Thanks Kai!" Kai huffed and walked back to his seat, not acknowledging either the gratitude or the rest of his team.  Tyson ignored it, being used to the cold personality of his team member and turned all of his attention back to the match.  He did as advised and kept his blade spinning in place.

"Looks like Tyson's staying where he is after that vicious attack from Nocturna."  Brad Best observed. 

"I'm not done yet!" Jackie cried.  "Nocturna: Go!"  At her command the beyblade flew off the side of the dish above the one that Tyson's blade was in, about to dive.

"NOW DRAGOON!" Tyson roared.  In a flash of blue light, Dragoon appeared, and with it a gust of wind.  "Phantom Hurricane Attack!"  The wind rose higher, sweeping the blade above it in a whirl, along with its bitbeast, which disappeared back in its bit.

"No!  This can't be happening!" Jackie wailed.

The blade flew out of the whirlwind, landing at its owner's feet.

"AND THE WINNER ISSSSS…..TYSON OF THE BLADEBREAKERS!!"  

Tyson grinned, waving as the crowd went wild once again.

Jackie looked at Tyson in awe.  "Wow!  You're really good!"

Tyson blushed a little.  "You're pretty good yourself." He told her.

"For a kid, right?" Jackie said grinning.

"For anyone!" Tyson said, meaning it.

Jackie smiled and for a moment she too had turned a shade redder.  "Thanks." she said shyly.  The two opponents stood there without a word for a few seconds before returning to their teams.

"Great job, Tyson!" Kenny said excitedly when Tyson had reached the benches.

"One more and this match is ours!" Rei added.

"Oh yea!" Max added.

"Thanks a lot, guys!" Tyson said, flushed by the shower of compliments.

Starr looked at him, frowning slightly.  "I never knew that you're bitbeast was a dragon type." she asked him in a slightly less then friendly tone.

Tyson hesitated.  "Is there something wrong with that?"

"What?" Starr looked at him.  "No, of course not!"  But she seemed thoughtful for a few seconds.

There was another moment of awkward silence until Kenny broke the silence.  "Well Max, you're up next."

"You ready to win?" Tyson asked his best friend as they exchanged high fives.

"Oh yeah!" Max said confidently as he began to walk up to the dish.

* * * 

"Yeah, Max!  That was an awesome battle!" Tyson cheered as he scrambled happily to his friends side, knocking both of them over.  Not far behind was the rest of the team, minus Kai.

"That was very impressive!" Kenny smiled at his blonde haired teammate.

"Thanks." Max managed to say, though with great difficulty.  "Ow, Tyson! Geroff, that hurts!"  

"Whoops, sorry pal"

Max got up, brushing the dirt from his orange overalls.  "It was a close match though.  That Dawson guy knew what he was doing.  For a while I thought that we'd lost this round." he admitted to the others.

"Hey," Starr told him.  "A win's a win!"

"Yeah!" Tyson jumped in.  "You were the better blader in the end."

Kenny then turned to the Chinese boy in the bsandana.  "Ok Rei, you're up next.  Since we've already won two of three rounds, it doesn't matter whether we win of lose, so you can take it easy if you'd like."

Rei's eye gleamed excitingly.  "Still," he said.  "Whether or not it matters, this guy's gonna go down fast!"  

The whole team looked confident as Rei walked towards the dish; not one of them was aware that an unwelcome figure was watching from the stands…

* * * * * * * * *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

And that's the end of the chapter.  Well, anyways, I'll try to update a whole lot faster than before. I've looked through all my chapters and decided that I'll be doing something different other than I had planned with the plot.  In doing that I've changed the what-would-have-been-the-ending-of-this-chapter into this ending.

Ack!  School just started!  I'm feeling rather dizzy…..*faints*

~starwolf~

  
  



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